US Sanctions Indian and Turkish Firms Over Iran Oil Links
The United States on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, imposed sanctions on companies and individuals in India and Turkiye that it accuses of helping Iran evade restrictions on its oil exports and airlines, according to Reuters. The US Treasury said the measures target a network run by Suniel Kumar Sharma and his wife, Jaspreet Preeti Shahid, who are based in Chandigarh, India.
The sanctions freeze any US assets held by the people and companies targeted, and they generally bar Americans from dealing with them. Sanctions are government restrictions that cut off access to the US financial system and punish anyone who helps a target get around them.
According to the Al Jazeera report on the action, Sharma and Shahid falsely claimed to represent the maritime authorities of countries including Guyana, Eswatini and Laos. They are accused of issuing fake flags and certifications that allowed sanctioned tankers carrying Iranian oil to keep operating, including vessels working for Iran's military and its allied groups.
The scheme dated back to at least 2014 and relied on websites built to look like official national ship registries, the government lists that record which country a vessel is registered in. Two other Indian nationals who head the couple's businesses were also sanctioned, along with nine entities linked to Sharma. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the unit that administers US sanctions, has also warned shipping companies about the risks of dealing with vessels sailing under false flags.
Turkiye-based Fugo Ground Services was sanctioned for providing ground handling, the support work carried out for aircraft on the ground, to US-sanctioned Iranian airlines including Iran Air Tour and Saha Airlines.
The measures are part of the Trump administration's Operation Economic Outcast, which aims to cut off the oil revenue Iran uses to fund its war effort.
