The US has imposed new sanctions over the supply of Iranian oil to China
The US Department of the Treasury has announced the imposition of sanctions against three individuals and nine companies for their involvement in schemes to supply Iranian oil to the People’s Republic of China, Reuters reports.
A statement from the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) notes that the restrictions apply to individuals and organisations that facilitated the sale and transport of Iranian oil by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
According to the US agency, the IRGC uses front companies in offshore jurisdictions to conceal its involvement in oil sales and to channel profits not towards the needs of the Iranian people, but towards the development of weapons, support for terrorist groups and the financing of the repressive apparatus.
Four companies from Hong Kong, four from the United Arab Emirates and one from Oman have been added to the sanctions list.
Three Iranian nationals working at the headquarters of the oil company Shahid Purja'fari, which is under the control of the IRGC, have also been sanctioned.
According to the US Treasury Department, these individuals coordinated payments through the Turkish company Golden Globe. Washington claims that this company sells hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of oil to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps every year and is already subject to US sanctions.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated on social media platform X that the Donald Trump administration would continue to use sanctions to restrict Tehran’s financial capabilities.
“The Treasury Department will continue to cut off the Iranian regime from the financial networks it uses to carry out terrorist acts and destabilise the global economy,” Bessent said.
China had previously criticised US sanctions against Iran and stated its intention to protect its companies.
Washington introduced the new restrictions on the eve of Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. During the talks, the US president plans to discuss with the Chinese leader the resolution of the situation surrounding Iran and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
