U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security

The U.S. Treasury expanded sanctions on a nine‑ship “shadow fleet” and associated firms accused of moving Iranian oil and funding Tehran’s proxies, part of a broader campaign the administration ties to Iran’s repression and sanction‑evasion. Concurrently, the Trump administration has imposed a self‑declared “quarantine” on sanctioned Venezuelan tankers—seizing multiple vessels (including the former Bella 1, reflagged Marinera, after a trans‑Atlantic chase, and several Caribbean seizures) using Coast Guard, Navy and Marine forces and court seizure warrants as it moves to redirect and sell Venezuelan crude under U.S. control.

Valizadeh’s lawyers have petitioned the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, arguing Iran is unlawfully holding Abdolreza “Reza” Valizadeh — a dual U.S.–Iranian journalist who became a U.S. citizen in 2022 while working for Radio Farda — after his arrest by the IRGC on Sept. 22, 2024; he is being held in solitary at Evin Prison and was formally designated “wrongfully detained” by the U.S. State Department in May 2025. Valizadeh, a longtime critic of the Iranian regime who returned to Iran in spring 2024 to care for aging parents amid what his family says were misleading assurances that may have involved a former colleague with IRGC ties, was detained amid a nationwide protest crackdown, near‑total internet blackout and heightened U.S.–Iran tensions that have raised fears detainees could be used as leverage.