OFAC adds Iran-linked Persian Gulf Strait Authority to SDN List under counterterrorism authority

WASHINGTON, May 27, 2026 — The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, or PGSA, to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List on May 27, identifying the Iran-based entity as linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. OFAC listed the designation as both Iran-related and counterterrorism-related.

OFAC said PGSA was designated under Executive Order 13224, and flagged for secondary sanctions risk . The entry also carries the tag IFSR, a reference to the Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations. OFAC’s listing gives the entity’s website as pgsa.ir and says the organization was established in 2026.

The designation is notable because OFAC explicitly linked PGSA to the IRGC, which Treasury designated under Executive Order 13224 in 2017. Treasury and OFAC have repeatedly used that authority to target Iranian and Iran-backed networks tied to terrorism financing, oil trading, procurement and regional militia support.

The move also comes weeks after OFAC warned shipping and financial market participants about sanctions risks tied to Iranian demands for so-called toll payments for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. In related guidance, OFAC said such payments to Iran or the IRGC, directly or indirectly, are not authorized for U.S. persons and can create significant sanctions exposure for non-U.S. persons.

As with other SDN designations, property and interests in property of the blocked party that come within U.S. jurisdiction are generally blocked, and U.S. persons are generally barred from dealings with the target. Treasury has also said foreign financial institutions and other non-U.S. actors can face exposure if they knowingly facilitate significant transactions for parties designated under this authority.