World News | U.S. imposes sanctions on several companies evading Iran sanctions

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (PTI) The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on several companies, including those headquartered in China, Hong Kong, India and the United Arab Emirates, for facilitating money transfers and shipments of Iranian oil and petrochemicals.

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States is taking further action to undermine efforts to evade sanctions on Iranian oil and petrochemical sales.

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Specifically, the U.S. State Department is imposing sanctions on two entities located in the People’s Republic of China (PRC): Zhonggu Storage and Transportation Co., Ltd., which operates an Iranian Oil Commercial Crude Oil Storage Facility that provides an important conduit for Iranian oil trade, and the transportation of Iranian oil. WS Shipping Co Ltd, ship manager of ships for petroleum products, said.

The Treasury Department has also designated eight entities to be involved in Iran’s petrochemical trade. The entities are located in Hong Kong, Iran, India and the United Arab Emirates, Blinken said in a statement.

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The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement that these entities played a key role in concealing the origin of the Iranian shipments and in facilitating two sanctioned Iranian brokers, Triliance Petrochemical Co Ltd (Triliance) and Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Commercial Corporation (PGPICC). , transfers funds and ships Iranian oil and petrochemicals to buyers in Asia.

India-based petrochemical company Tibalaji Petrochem Private Limited has bought millions of dollars worth of petrochemicals brokered by Triliance, including methanol and base oils, for shipment to China, according to a list published by the Ministry of Finance.

“As Iran continues to accelerate its nuclear program in violation of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), we will continue to expedite the enforcement of sanctions on Iranian oil and petrochemical sales, which will be lifted under the JCPOA,” Blinken said.

The JCPOA, commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, is an agreement between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany, in 2015 on Iran’s nuclear program and the European Union.

Under its terms, Iran agreed to dismantle most of its nuclear program and open its facilities to wider international inspections in exchange for sanctions relief worth billions of dollars.

Former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018. Indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran to revive the deal have collapsed.

Iran has long denied it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, while saying it has a right to a civilian nuclear infrastructure.

“These enforcement actions, which will continue on a regular basis, are designed to severely restrict Iran’s oil and petrochemical exports. Anyone involved in facilitating these illicit sales and transactions should cease and desist immediately if they wish to avoid U.S. sanctions,” Blinken said.

“The United States is committed to severely restricting Iran’s illicit oil and petrochemical sales,” said Brian Nielsen, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.

“As long as Iran refuses to mutually restore full implementation of the JCPOA, the United States will continue to impose sanctions on sales of Iranian oil and petrochemicals,” Nielsen said.

The Treasury Department said the economic sanctions are reversible if Iran resumes compliance with the JCPOA, following last week’s sanctions against the so-called morality police and other law enforcement groups, as well as against Mahsa Amini and subsequent protests. Violent repression took place.

“We remain concerned about a range of Iranian policies, from their nuclear program to the abuse of their own people, to supporting Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine through drones and military training, and destabilizing activities across the region, and we will continue to Use sanctions and other tools to address these dangerous policies,” it said. PTI LKJ

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the Syndicated News feed, the body of the content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)