The United States has sanctioned Singapore-based oil trading company, Wellbred Capital PTE LTD, which maintains an office in Nigeria, as part of a broader crackdown on Iran’s financial, oil and shipping networks.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the designation of Wellbred Capital and its affiliates alongside more than 59 other entities accused of links to Iran’s oil shipping network.
The action was announced Monday under a new US economic campaign against Iran known as “Operation Economic Outcast”, which Washington says is aimed at cutting off economic channels supporting Tehran.
According to OFAC and information on the company’s website, Wellbred operates offices in Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, with business interests in oil, naphtha, petrochemicals and liquefied petroleum gas.
Also sanctioned were Wellbred Trading FZCO in Dubai, Wellbred Trading SA in Geneva and its French biofuels refinery, La Nivernaise de Raffinage SAS.
The Treasury Department said Wellbred has links to Iranian shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, whom OFAC described as operating a large fleet of tankers and containerships transporting Iranian and Russian oil globally.
OFAC said the latest sanctions targeted more than 60 individuals, entities and vessels allegedly assisting Iran in acquiring nuclear and missile technology, conducting cyber operations and generating oil revenue.
Under US sanctions regulations, any property or interests belonging to Wellbred within the United States or held by US persons must be blocked.
Nigerian banks and businesses with correspondent banking relationships in the US would also be required to screen transactions linked to Wellbred to avoid exposure to secondary sanctions.
The package also introduced sectoral sanctions targeting Iran’s digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping sectors, which US officials said were being used to circumvent existing restrictions.
“No one is above the reach of US sanctions,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
He added that countries had been given specific timelines to sever Iran-related activities or face unilateral action by Washington.
“If they do not take action, we will do so unilaterally through Treasury authorities,” he said. “For example, every branch of Bank Melli must be shuttered and dark.”
Bessent also disclosed that President Donald Trump had personally contacted world leaders, urging them to cut ties with Tehran.
“The final refuge of this regime is the mistaken conclusion of nations that still finance the Iranian threat in the hopes of evading it. It is no longer acceptable to operate in the gray spaces of this conflict.
“Those who stand with the United States will reap the rewards of our partnership. Those who tether themselves to the Iranian regime should expect to share in the isolation of a withering regime,” Bessent warned.
OFAC had previously sanctioned other components of Shamkhani’s shipping network in July 2025 and April 2026.
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