WASHINGTON – On Friday, the United States announced sanctions targeting nine ships and their owners, accusing them of illegally transporting Iranian oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars to international markets.

The U.S. Treasury Department explained that these sanctions were a response to Iran’s “internet access shutdown” aimed at hiding its human rights abuses amid a crackdown on widespread protests. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized that the sanctions strike at a crucial source of Iran’s revenue, which is allegedly used to suppress its citizens.

Iranians and businesses in the country have been enduring the longest and most extensive internet blackout in the history of the Islamic Republic. This internet blockage began on January 8, coinciding with a wave of nationwide protests that sought to limit the flow of information.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control at the Treasury reported that the nine vessels, registered in places like Palau and Panama, are part of a so-called shadow fleet. This fleet consists of older tankers used to transport goods under international sanctions, primarily from Russia and Iran. The new sanctions are designed to block the targeted Iranian entities from engaging in business with Americans or accessing U.S. financial systems.

This latest move is another chapter in the escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran. As part of the rising friction, an American aircraft carrier group is moving closer to the Middle East. President Donald Trump described the deployment as an “armada” during remarks to reporters on Air Force One late Thursday.

Trump added that the U.S. was moving the ships toward Iran “just in case” he wants to take action against Iran’s government. The Republican president has repeatedly boasted that his threats on Iran have prevented the execution of more than 800 dissidents.

Iran’s top prosecutor on Friday called Trump’s repeated claims “completely false.”

Meanwhile, the death toll in Iran from the bloody crackdown on nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 5,032, activists said.

The U.S. issued sanctions this month against Iranian officials and firms accused of helping to repress the nationwide protests, which challenged Iran’s theocratic government, including the secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security, whom the Treasury accuses of being one of the first officials to call for violence against protesters.

Trump on Thursday declined to say whether the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei should be removed from office.