Treasury Sanctions India-Based Ship Registry Network and Turkish Firm the Day After Midterms as Trump Weighs Strikes or a Deal

Since Treasury launched Operation Economic Outcast on Aug. 24, the sanctions campaign has been the quieter half of the U.S. war on Iran. On Wednesday, Nov. 4, it got louder.

New sanctions land a day after the election

Treasury announced penalties on an alleged network run by India-based businessman Suniel Kumar Sharma and his wife, Jaspreet Preeti Shahid. Both are based in Chandigarh. Two other Indian nationals and several associated entities were also named.

Treasury alleges the network gave fraudulent ship registrations and certifications to vessels carrying Iranian petroleum. It says some of those ships worked for Iran's military and its proxies. According to the department, Sharma and Shahid impersonated representatives of countries including Guyana, Eswatini and Laos to issue the paperwork. They also ran websites selling flagging, seafarer training and vessel classification services.

These are Treasury's allegations. The sanctioned parties have not publicly responded in the material reviewed for this story.

Separately, Treasury sanctioned Turkey-based Fugo Ground Services Inc. It alleges the company provided ground handling to sanctioned Iranian airlines, including Iran Air Tour, Saha Airlines, Taban Airlines and Ata Airlines. The department also issued an industry alert on sanctions exposure tied to fraudulent ship registrations.

Bessent posted on X: "As we have said many times, under Operation Economic Outcast, you are either with us or against us. We know where you are, and we will sanction those who continue supporting the Iranian regime, whether by land, sea, or air."

What Treasury says the campaign is doing

Treasury says earlier measures pushed Iran's rial to record lows and domestic inflation toward 90%. Bessent has said Iran cannot get dollars and cannot pay its troops, and that money flowing to the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah is shrinking.

On Oct. 31 he wrote on X that Strait of Hormuz transit levels are back to pre-conflict levels minus Iranian barrels. "The world can live without Iranian oil," he wrote. "Iran cannot live without oil exports."

The results are contested. Dave DeCamp of Antiwar.com wrote that the strategy is hurting Iranian civilians while doing nothing to end the conflict. He added that there is no sign Iran's leadership will give in, since Tehran has lived under Western sanctions for decades.

Two Washington Institute for Near East Policy experts have argued the operation falls short of its potential without closer coordination with allies. Meanwhile, two Lebanese security sources told Reuters that Hezbollah has received tens of millions of dollars from Iran on top of roughly $200 million reported earlier. Bessent's claim that proxy funding is falling sits against that.

Trump has not chosen a path

Trump and Vice President JD Vance have both said the war contributed to the GOP's losses through higher gas prices and living costs, according to Antiwar.com. Trump said Wednesday the war pushed up gasoline prices but that he would launch it again to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Asked when it would end, he said: "Whenever I wanted to. But it's got to be done right, because they can't have a nuclear weapon."

Axios, citing unnamed sources, reported that Trump is undecided between resuming strikes, pursuing an agreement, or keeping up the blockade and economic pressure. Axios said Vance leads a group urging a deal and privately criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's read on Iran. It said CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Bessent favor staying with the blockade and sanctions. Those are the outlet's sourced accounts, not on-record positions.

Axios also reported that U.S. officials say the military is finishing preparations for a possible return to major combat operations. Qatari mediators, it said, are trying to win both sides' backing for a draft agreement that could restart direct talks within days.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei wrote on X that Iranians "handed Trump a strategic defeat on the battlefield and in the Hormuz — and a POLITICAL DEFEAT in Washington." Diplomats and Trump advisers told Axios that kind of reaction could make renewed military action more likely.

On the ground, a U.S. official told CBS News that the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group makes a port call in Singapore Friday, Nov. 6, and will not reach the Middle East for at least two more weeks. Two carrier groups are already in the region, which officials say is enough firepower for whatever Trump orders. As of Thursday, Nov. 5, Trump has not signaled whether he will order major new strikes.

Other fronts

The Houthis claimed a drone attack that disrupted air navigation at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday. Spokesperson Yahya Saree announced it on X. Multiple drones have disrupted traffic there this week, and two people died in a Houthi strike on the airport on Oct. 22.

In a separate case, court documents unsealed Thursday and obtained by The Associated Press show the administration held contacts with Iranian officials during the war about deporting Iranians. As recently as mid-October it said it planned removals through an unnamed third country. At an Oct. 15 hearing, Judge Ana Reyes said sending people back would expose them to "a serious threat of certain death." Justice Department attorney Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel replied that "the government is executing lawful orders of removal." Reyes ordered 24-hour notice of any finalized plan to deport Iranians to Iran or any other country, and five days' written notice before any removal. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

What comes next

The sanctions track and the diplomatic track are running at the same time, and Trump has not picked between them. With the Roosevelt at least two weeks out and a Qatari draft agreement still circulating, the next decision point is whether Washington and Tehran accept that text or the president orders strikes.