The Trump administration has opened a legal exit for the so\u2011called \u201cshadow fleet\u201d by issuing a license that allows the world\u2019s largest ship\u2011breaking firm, GMS, to buy vessels sanctioned for transporting Iranian cargo for scrapping. U.S. and international officials say the move is aimed at squeezing Tehran\u2019s funding streams used to purchase weapons.The Wall Street Journal reported on the 26th that the administration issued a license permitting GMS to purchase three vessels designated last year as sanctioned for links to shipping figure Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani. Those ships were among roughly 50 vessels sanctioned by the U.S. in that action.Officials and analysts say the decision provides shipowners in the shadow fleet \u2014 vessels that carry illicit cargo for Iran, Russia and others \u2014 a lawful route out of a network that has grown as sanctions tightened. GMS applied to the U.S. Treasury Department\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for a comprehensive license to scrap sanctioned ships, arguing that doing so would reduce the shadow fleet\u2019s presence at sea.Shadow\u2011fleet vessels are typically older and poorly maintained compared with legitimate merchant ships, creating environmental and safety risks. After the U.S., the European Union and the U.K. tightened sanctions on Iran and Russia, the number of vessels attempting to evade restrictions surged. Clarkson Research estimates there are currently about 1,836 sanctioned vessels, including 55 container ships.\u201cSome sanctioned shipowners want to scrap their vessels but have limited legal options,\u201d said Richard Meade, an analyst at Lloyd\u2019s List Intelligence. \u201cIf this licensing continues, it could provide a legitimate exit route from the shadow fleet.\u201dSeparately, officials approved scrapping for four ships that are part of an illicit shipping network controlled by Shamkhani. Shamkhani is the son of Ali Shamkhani, a former security adviser to Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader. Ali Shamkhani died in an Israeli airstrike early in the Iran war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The U.S. allows GMS to buy sanctioned Iranian cargo ships for scrapping, aiming to pressure Iran’s funding sources amid increased sanctions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/cdn-union.tenbizt.com\/contents\/crawler-dev\/thumbnail\/2026\/05\/CP-2023-0094\/thumb-59df1f7b-a818-4f91-bf99-c70a51b9cbe6.jpg","footnotes":""},"categories":[278104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military"],"yoast_head":"\n