Treasury sanctions law firm and shipping agents over Iranian trade
By Staff Writer · Published 10/21/2026, 10:13:26 PM ET
The October 21 designations cover a law firm, five individuals, shipping companies and nine vessels. Treasury alleges they supported Iranian commodity shipments; a separate bank inquiry remains ongoing.
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions October 21 on a Panama- and Greece-based law firm, five people, a ship operator and two shipping agents that it says helped Iranian commodity trading networks. The action also identifies nine vessels as blocked property under Executive Order 13902.
Treasury accused Karnakis and Karnakis of registering companies used to own ships carrying Iranian oil, petrochemicals and other goods. It designated the firm and Sofianos Karnakis Kosmas, Konstantinos Karnakis Kosmas, Pedro Ortega Jones, Roberto Ortega Jones and Ioanis Karnakis Kosmas. The account of their conduct is Treasury’s allegation supporting the sanctions, rather than a court judgment reported in the release.
The department also designated Roxette Maritime Shipping and Trading S.A., which it describes as a Panama- and Greece-based ship manager and operator. Seven cargo vessels associated with Roxette were identified as blocked property: ANEMOS, GLORIS, PRIDE, DESTINY, FLAMINGO 1, HARMONY and PRINCE.
The two shipping agents are Singapore-based Amigoz Singapore PTE. Ltd. and Dubai-based Whales Shipping Line LLC. Treasury alleges that Amigoz assisted Iranian oil shipments and that Whales supported Amigoz and worked with a previously sanctioned petrochemical trading company. The Whales-owned support vessels WHALES DIAMOND and WHALES PEARL were also identified as blocked property.
The designations are part of Operation Economic Outcast, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced August 24. In a separate strand of the operation, FinCEN described an inquiry involving an unnamed Greek bank and possible links to Iran or its proxies. Treasury said investigators were using an administrative subpoena and working with European counterparts. It did not report that the inquiry had reached a determination.
Treasury says property covered by the action must be blocked and reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control when it is in the United States or controlled by U.S. persons. Its notice also describes blocking for entities owned at least 50 percent by blocked persons, individually or together. Transactions involving blocked property are generally prohibited for U.S. persons and within or through the United States, subject to applicable licenses and exemptions.
OFAC also issued two temporary licenses, both ending at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time November 20, 2026. General License GG permits specified wind-down transactions involving Karnakis and Karnakis and certain related entities and representatives. General License HH allows limited wind-down, vessel-safety and environmental work involving Roxette and its seven listed vessels, with cargo offloading restricted to non-Iranian goods loaded by October 21 and ports outside Iran and Russia that are not controlled by either government. Payments to blocked persons must go to blocked accounts; the licenses retain other prohibitions and do not authorize unrestricted new business.
The announcement warns that certain dealings can expose foreign financial institutions to secondary sanctions. It also links to the process for seeking removal from OFAC’s sanctions lists. The full release and OFAC’s linked designation notice provide the names and vessel identifiers underlying the action.
What it means
For shipping firms and their banks, the notice changes which counterparties and vessels are subject to U.S. blocking rules. The two dated licenses create narrow transition permissions rather than a general exemption from the sanctions. Treasury’s allegations explain why it acted, while the release provides no results showing the effect on shipment volumes.
Source
This State & Nation summary is based on U.S. Department of the Treasury’s original release, dated 2026-10-21. The reporting and statistics above are attributed to that publication.