ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The United States late Wednesday slapped sanctions on a “criminal network” selling “fraudulent flags” to suspected Iranian vessels carrying illicit oil, the State Department announced, adding that a Turkey-based company was also targeted for servicing sanctioned Iranian airlines. 

In a statement, the State Department said that the network, run by two Indian nationals, aided Iranian vessels by providing “fraudulent flags” and by gaining fake maritime certifications. 

Thirteen companies linked to the network were sanctioned, according to the statement, with the companies posing as flag registries and service providers of countries and jurisdictions including Guyana, Eswatini, Aruba, Mali, Mozambique, Malawi, Sint Maarten, and Timor-Leste.

A Turkey-based company “that provides ground services to sanctioned Iranian airlines” was also targeted. 

The designations were the latest in Operation Economic Outcast, launched by Washington in August. The campaign seeks the “economic asphyxiation” of the Islamic republic. 

“As we have said many times, under Operation Economic Outcast, you are either with us or against us,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a separate statement. “We know where you are, and we will sanction those who continue supporting the Iranian regime, whether by land, sea, or air.”

The US and Israel launched a war against Iran in late February, plunging the Middle East into violence. Washington and Tehran have since made several attempts to strike a deal, with no result so far. 

Iran has shut the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway where roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil is transported as a means in its war against the US and Israel, sharply driving up oil prices. The US in turn has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports.