US presses Panama to ban Iranian ships from bearing its flag

Panama is the largest ship registration hub in the world. Over 8,000 vessels sail under its flag, representing about 16 percent of the global fleet. Abram Paley, the US Deputy Special Envoy for Iran said that six vessels that violated US sanctions have flown the Panamanian flag since the start of this year. In January last year, the Panamanian maritime authority withdrew its flag from over 130 Iranian-linked vessels at Washington’s request (Read more at The Cradle).