WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Treasury targeted companies and individuals affiliated with Iran's national shipping line Monday with measures to isolate them from US finance and commerce. In slapping sanctions on 10 shipping companies and three individuals linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, the Treasury said it was "responding to Iran's continued efforts to evade sanctions and its ongoing creation and use of new front companies, subsidiaries and affiliates to protect IRISL and to advance its proliferation activities." The measures targeted IRISL's operations in Britain, China, Singapore and the UAE. "As the private sector around the world increasingly turns its back on Iran's national shipping line, IRISL's efforts to evade international sanctions and increased scrutiny have grown more and more desperate," Adam Szubin, director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in a statement.