Lỗ hổng 2,8 tỷ USD trong lệnh trừng phạt của Mỹ đối với Iran

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For months, as Iran-backed groups attacked U.S. forces and allies in the Middle East, the Biden administration hailed its efforts to restrict Iran’s oil revenue — and the country’s ability to fund proxy militias (tài trợ cho lực lượng dân quân ủy quyền). The Treasury secretary told Congress that her teams were “doing everything that they possibly can to crack down” on illegal shipments, and a senior White House adviser said that “extreme sanctions” had effectively stalled Iran’s energy sector.

The oil was transported aboard 27 tankers, using liability insurance (bảo hiểm trách nhiệm) obtained from an American company. That meant that the U.S. authorities could have disrupted the oil’s transport by advising the insurer, the New York-based American Club, to revoke the coverage (thu hồi bảo hiểm), which is often a requirement for tankers to do business.

It is unclear who the U.S. government considers primarily responsible (chịu trách nhiệm chính) for identifying suspicious tankers. The Treasury is tasked with administering sanctions (quản lý các biện pháp trừng phạt) by investigating and blacklisting individuals or companies participating in illicit activities. But it places some of the burden on insurers to monitor for suspicious behavior through the regular release of advisories and alerts.

The Treasury office has publicly enforced sanctions on the American Club only once in the past 20 years. In 2013, the office announced that it found the insurer had processed dozens of claims for ships that violated sanctions on Cuba, Sudan and Iran. Treasury officials calculated the penalty for the apparent violations (vi phạm) totaled more than $1.7 million.

Ultimately, the office said the American Club did “not appear to have been willful or reckless” and the case was settled. The company agreed to pay a reduced fine of $348,000.