U.S. sanctions two Iranian maritime insurers over crypto payments

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Iran’s Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority, saying the entities brokered insurance approved by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and pushed commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to obtain the coverage. The Treasury Department also said the policies claimed to protect ships from risks including seizure, while most of those risks stemmed from Iran itself. It added the premiums included cryptocurrency payments used to evade U.S. sanctions.