Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
US Treasury bureau administering sanctions; designated Indian nationals and entities on 15 April 2026.
Last refreshed: 21 April 2026
Why did OFAC sanction Indian shipping three days before the IRGC attacked Indian tankers?
Timeline for Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
Designated Shamkhani oil smuggling network under IRAN-EO13902 and SDGT programmes on 15 April
Iran Conflict 2026: OFAC named India three days before IRGC fire- What is OFAC and what does it do?
- OFAC is the US Treasury's sanctions enforcement bureau. It administers the SDN list and enforces restrictions on transactions with designated countries, individuals, and entities.
Background
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is the US Treasury Department bureau responsible for administering and enforcing economic and trade sanctions based on US Foreign Policy and national security objectives. It maintains the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, which freezes assets within US jurisdiction and prohibits transactions between US persons and designated individuals or entities. In the 2026 Iran conflict, OFAC has been the primary instrument of US Economic warfare against Iranian oil revenues.
On 15 April 2026, OFAC issued a Major designation action titled "Economic Fury Targets Illicit Oil Smuggling Network Run by Iranian Regime Elite", naming two Indian nationals and three Indian-linked shipping entities as part of the Shamkhani network. The action added nine tankers to the SDN list and came three days before the IRGC attacked Indian-flagged tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. During the conflict, OFAC also issued and allowed to lapse General License U, which had temporarily permitted Iranian crude imports, and maintained a 22-day silence on new Iran designations before the 15 April action.
OFAC's Iran programme has operated continuously since the 1979 revolution and expanded substantially after the 2015 nuclear deal collapsed. The bureau's reach extends beyond US entities: any company transacting in dollars, clearing through US Banks, or doing business with US-connected firms falls within its effective jurisdiction, making it a lever of global rather than bilateral pressure.
