US imposes sanctions on companies it says sent Iranian oil to China

The network facilitated the shipment of oil worth billions of dollars to China on behalf of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff and its front company, Sepehr Energy, Treasury said

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on more than 20 companies in a network that it said has long sent Iranian oil to China, days after negotiators from Iran and the United States concluded a fourth round of nuclear talks. 

The network facilitated the shipment of oil worth billions of dollars to China on behalf of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff and its front company, Sepehr Energy, Treasury said. 

The department sanctioned companies including CCIC Singapore PTE, which it said helped Sepehr by concealing the oil's Iranian origins and carried out pre-delivery inspections required before oil was transferred to China. It also sanctioned Huangdao Inspection and Certification Co Ltd for having assisted Sepehr. 

 

Treasury also sanctioned Qingdao Linkrich International Shipping Agency Co Ltd which it said has assisted Sepehr Energy-chartered vessels with their arrival and discharge at Qingdao Port as its designated port agent. 

The sale of the oil helped fund the development of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, nuclear proliferation, and attacks by the Houthi militant group on shipping in the Red Sea, the U.S. Navy and Israel, said Tammy Bruce, a State Department spokesperson. 

"We will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to hold the regime accountable," Bruce said. Tuesday's sanctions were the latest since U.S. President Donald Trump reinstated his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran. Previously, sanctions were imposed on China's independent "teapot" oil refineries. 

Analysts have said the measures have boosted pressure on Iran and China, but that Washington would have to impose sanctions on China's state-owned enterprises to have broader impact. 

Tehran and Washington have both said they prefer diplomacy to resolve the decades-long nuclear dispute, but they remain deeply divided on several red lines including enrichment of uranium in Iran.  (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)