US Sanctions International Network Of Companies Selling Iranian Petroleum Products
October 7, 2022The United States has imposed sanctions on an international network of companies involved in the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum products to end users in South and East Asia.
The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) targets Iranian brokers and several front companies in the UAE, Hong Kong, and India that have facilitated financial transfers and shipping of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products.
These entities have played a critical role in concealing the origin of the Iranian shipments and enabling two sanctioned Iranian brokers, Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (Triliance) and Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industry Commercial Co. (PGPICC), to transfer funds and ship Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals to buyers in Asia.
Sanctions were imposed on Hong Kong-based Sophychem HK Limited, ML Holding Group Limited, Triliance Petrochemical Co Ltd, Sierra Vista Trading Limited, India-based petrochemical company Tibalaji Petrochem Private Limited, UAE-based Clara Shipping LLC, Virgo Marine, Iran-based Iran Chemical Industries Investment Company and Middle East Kimiya Pars Co.
“The United States is committed to severely restricting Iran’s illicit oil and petrochemical sales,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson.
The Treasury made it clear that these economic sanctions are reversible if Iran returns to the 2015 international nuclear deal, or JCPOA, which it signed with major western powers.
Separately, the State Department designated two China-based companies over their efforts to evade sanctions on the sale of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products.
The targeted companies are Zhonggu Storage and Transportation Co. Ltd., which operate a commercial crude oil storage facility for Iranian petroleum that provides a vital conduit for the Iranian petroleum trade; and WS Shipping Co. Ltd., which is the ship manager for a vessel that has transported Iranian petroleum products.
“As Iran continues to accelerate its nuclear program in violation of the JCPOA, we will continue to accelerate our enforcement of sanctions on Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sales, with an aim to severely restrict Iran’s oil and petrochemical exports,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
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