US sanctions Karnakis & Karnakis over alleged support for Iranian shipping networks

Washington, United States. The US Treasury Department announced sanctions on Wednesday against Karnakis & Karnakis, alleging that the law firm, based in Greece and Panama, had spent years providing legal services to Iranian shipping networks.

Allegations against the firm and shipping agents

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the firm had established shell companies over several years to conceal the actual ownership of ships transporting Iranian oil, petrochemicals and steel.

According to Pigott, those companies acted as fronts for networks whose sales of millions of barrels of Iranian oil benefited the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force and the Houthis.

The firm did not immediately provide a response when approached for comment.

Treasury also sanctioned shipping agents based in Singapore and the UAE, alleging that they directly supported operations by Iran’s shadow fleet.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that Washington would identify and sanction supporters of the Iranian regime, whether they were involved in unlawful oil transfers at sea or working from senior positions in law firms.

European banks face inquiries

In its statement, Treasury said the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FINCEN, had issued an administrative subpoena as part of an investigation into possible links between a Greek bank and Iran. The bank’s identity was not disclosed.

FINCEN separately sought information from six additional European banks about their relationships with Iranian financial institutions subject to US sanctions. Those banks were also unnamed.

Sanctions amid the war

Washington has refrained from striking Iran this month during the war launched by the US and Israel on February 28. Instead, it has maintained its blockade of Iranian ports and imposed successive rounds of sanctions targeting Iranian shipping networks and parties it accuses of assisting them.