Financial security · October 22, 2026
Treasury targets legal and shipping facilitators in Iran sanctions action
Published October 22, 2026 · Source announcement October 21
What changed
Treasury announced sanctions against the Panama- and Greece-based law firm Karnakis and Karnakis, associated individuals, and maritime businesses it says supported Iranian commodity trade. The October 21 action also identifies nine vessels as blocked property.
The designations use Executive Order 13902, which targets sectors of Iran’s economy. They are separate from the October 8 vessel action previously covered here.
Why it matters
The new action reaches professional and commercial intermediaries, extending beyond vessel owners. Treasury links its wider campaign to disrupting revenue available to Iran’s military and other state programmes.
FinCEN also reported an investigation into a Greek bank’s potential ties to Iran and its proxies. That investigation is not a finding that the bank violated the law.
What the announcement establishes
These are administrative sanctions, not criminal convictions or separate terrorism designations for every listed party. The announcement does not establish that the affected networks have stopped operating.