Companies involved in shipping Iranian oil added to American OFAC sanctions list

The US Department of the Treasury has added shipping companies from China, Malaysia, and Thailand to its sanctions list for allegedly being involved in transporting Iranian oil.

A statement by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) released on April 16 informs that it was also designating a large China-based independent “teapot” refinery for its role in purchasing more than a billion dollars’ worth of Iranian crude oil, including from a front company for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), Caliber.Az reports.

Additional sanctions on several companies and vessels "responsible for facilitating Iranian oil shipments to China as part of Iran’s 'shadow fleet'" have also been imposed. 

A total of seven companies were added to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list, which includes entities based in Hong Kong, Panama, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, as well as five oil tankers involved in the transportation were also sanctioned.

Teapot refineries are small, independent oil refineries operating in China. The latest sanction targets the Shandong Shengxing Chemical Co., Ltd, which, according to the US government, sent more than $800 million in wire transfers to China Oil and Petroleum Company Limited (COPC), which it alleges was an IRGC-QF front company that aided in selling Iranian oil to China.

The move comes ahead of the second round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran scheduled for April 19, following the first indirect meeting that took place in Oman with the help of its mediation, with American media outlets reporting the Italian capital to be hosting the upcoming negotiations.

By Nazrin Sadigova