The United States has imposed sanctions on the so-called Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), a newly formed Iranian body, that is part of Tehran’s effort to control and profit from transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Treasury Department said on May 27 that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) uses PGSA to “monetize its campaign of state-sponsored terror by extorting vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
The sanctions freeze any U.S.-based assets linked to PGSA and ban Americans and many foreign companies or banks from doing business with it.
Violators could face civil or criminal penalties, the department said, including secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions that facilitate prohibited transactions….