US sanctions nine firms linked with Iranian petroleum trade

The US Department of Treasury has sanctioned nine companies accused of serving as middlemen to facilitate Iranian sales of crude and oil products to firms in Asia.

PHOTO: US and Irani flags. Getty Images

This is the latest US attempt to pressure Tehran into stopping sale of drones to Moscow.

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added six Iran-based petrochemical makers and three firms in Malaysia and Singapore to its sanctions list for helping to sell and ship Iranian oil products.

The US first sanctioned Triliance Petrochemical in 2020 for helping Tehran sell its petrochemicals to foreign buyers. The US re-imposed restrictions on Iran’s ability to trade oil and gas and other activities in what it calls a “maximum pressure campaign” to stop Iran from bankrolling “terrorist and militant proxies, and to secure the removal of all Iranian forces from Syria.”

Since then, the US has sanctioned dozens of individuals and companies involved in trading Iranian petrochemicals.

“Iran increasingly turning to buyers in East Asia to sell its petrochemical and petroleum products, in violation of U.S. sanctions,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “The United States remains focused on targeting Tehran’s sources of illicit revenue and will continue to enforce its sanctions against those who wittingly facilitate this trade.”

Escalating tensions between the US and Iran could add upward pressure to oil prices as it squeezes another major supplier more fully out of the market. This could pressure supplies at a time when Russian oil and gas trade is also being dented.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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