Chinese firm briefly restored access to Iranian maritime portal amid U.S. sanctions concerns

A Shanghaibased internet security company briefly restored secure access to a website used by Iran’s sanctioned Persian Gulf Straits Authority, according to internet monitoring groups and U.S. sanctions experts. The authority, which Washington says helps collect tolls from vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, lost its web credentials after being added to the U.S. sanctions list. That made the site harder to reach through standard browsers and pushed users toward less secure connections, experts said. TrustAsia later issued a domainvalidated TLS certificate for the site, which restored secure access for a short period before the company revoked the certificate and added the domain to a restricted list. TrustAsia said the certificate was issued through an automated process and that it had not assessed the legal status or sanctions exposure of the site operator. U.S. sanctions lawyer Jeremy Paner said providing the service could expose the company to sanctions risk, while internet researcher Alp Toker warned that restoring the certificate allowed Iran to keep operating its online portal. The episode comes as Washington continues to tighten pressure on Iran’s maritime and financial networks.