On May 27, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) — a newly created governmental body that Washington says functions as nothing more than an IRGC-run extortion operation targeting the world’s most critical maritime chokepoint. The designation adds the PGSA to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, exposing any entity that cooperates with it to severe U.S. sanctions consequences.

The PGSA was launched by Iran on or around May 5, 2026, during the peak of the 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis — a wartime measure that Iran presents as a legitimate regulatory authority for maritime safety, but which the United States characterizes as a formalized extortion mechanism for funneling revenue directly to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Iran presents the PGSA as a legitimate agency providing orderly maritime traffic management in its claimed waters. In reality, according to U.S. authorities, the PGSA is a formalized racket: vessels are required to submit extensive documentation — over 40 questions on ship details, cargo, origin, destination — and pay fees to receive “approval” for passage through IRGC-designated “secure corridors.” The IRGC Navy then physically coordinates — or withholds — safe passage based on compliance.