The US has issued a raft of sanctions against Iranian shipping, targeting in part the head of the National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC) and the alleged front companies fighting to recover their confiscated gasoline.

In a broader push to handicap the Islamic Republic's oil industry — which the US alleges funds terrorism across the globe — the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) added 11 companies, eight individuals and two ships to its ever-increasing blacklist on Monday.