The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed the latest sanctions that have targeted over 170 vessels responsible for shipping Iranian petroleum and petroleum products
The US Treasury Department has imposed a slew of sanctions on Iran’s vast oil network. The list of sanctioned companies also includes an Indian firm as Washington intensifies its campaign against Tehran’s oil lobby that has been feeding the Iranian military.
“Today’s action continues Treasury’s campaign to cut off funding for the Iranian regime’s development of nuclear weapons and support of terrorist proxies,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed the latest sanctions that have targeted over 170 vessels responsible for shipping Iranian petroleum and petroleum products, driving up costs for Iranian oil exporters and reducing the revenue Iran receives for each barrel of oil sold.
The statement said that ever since Iran’s 12-day war with Israel earlier this year, Tehran has “increasingly come to rely on the sale of Iranian crude oil to supplement its annual budget and finance the rebuilding of its depleted forces.”
Among the Iranian companies that have been slapped by the new round of sanctions is Mahan Airlines, which the Treasury Department says “has worked closely with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to arm and supply Iran-backed terrorist groups throughout the Middle East. ”
The other entities include Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars Company, which “uses an array of front companies and shadow fleet vessels to obfuscate its illicit activities and sell billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil annually,” as per the US.
The latest action is being taken primarily under the counterterrorism authority Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, as well as E.O. 13902, which targets Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical industries. The move extends the administration’s aggressive sanctions campaign aimed at curbing Iranian oil sales, in line with the President’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 (NSPM-2), which directs maximum economic pressure on Iran.
Which Indian company has been sanctioned?
Among those newly designated is RN Ship Management Private Limited, an India-based firm accused of operating vessels that transported Iranian oil for Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars Company, a sanctioned entity linked to Iran’s military.
The company’s Indian directors, Zair Husain Iqbal Husain Sayed and Zulfikar Hussain Rizvi Sayed, were also targeted for their alleged involvement.
RN Ship Management joins a growing roster of firms from the UAE, Panama, Germany, Greece, and The Gambia that have been cited for providing material support to Iran’s military-aligned oil activities.
Source:First Post