U.S. Expands Sanctions on Iran’s Oil Sector, Targeting Key Brokers and Shipping Firms
WASHINGTON:
The United States has introduced a new wave of sanctions against Iran’s oil industry, blacklisting over 30 entities, including brokers, shipping firms, and tanker operators involved in the sale and transportation of Iranian petroleum, the Treasury Department announced on Monday.
This move is part of Washington’s continued efforts to curtail Iran’s oil exports, which the U.S. sees as a key revenue source funding Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. These latest restrictions build on previous sanctions imposed under both the Trump and Biden administrations.
“Iran relies on a complex web of vessels, intermediaries, and shipping companies to sustain its oil trade and finance destabilizing activities,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated. “The U.S. is committed to disrupting Iran’s petroleum supply chain, and anyone engaging in these transactions faces significant sanction risks,” he warned.
The newly imposed sanctions target oil brokers based in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, shipping companies in India and China, as well as top executives at Iran’s National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and the Iranian Oil Terminals Company (IOTC). The IOTC is responsible for managing Iran’s key oil terminals, including the Kharg Island Oil Terminal, which handles a significant portion of Iran’s crude exports, and the South Pars Condensate Terminal, through which all of Iran’s gas condensate shipments are processed.
Despite these measures, China, the largest buyer of Iranian oil, does not recognize U.S. sanctions. Beijing and Tehran have established a trading system that primarily operates in Chinese yuan, using intermediaries to bypass the U.S. financial system and avoid exposure to American regulators.
Meanwhile, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) has suggested that other major oil producers, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, possess enough spare production capacity to offset any decline in Iranian exports.
