US Expands Iran Sanctions, Targets Network Moving Iranian Oil Products

The U.S. last week expanded an Iran-related sanctions authority to target the country’s petroleum and petrochemical sectors and designated a host of entities and vessels that it said have shipped or traded Iranian oil products.

The new sanctions are a response to Iran’s recent missile attacks against Israel, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. She said the measures target Iranian efforts to “channel revenues from its energy industry to finance deadly and disruptive activity” around the Middle East and the globe. “We will not hesitate to take further action to hold Iran accountable,” Yellen said.

A new determination issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control expands the agency’s Iran-related sanctions authorities, outlined in a 2020 executive order, so that Treasury can “target a broader range of activities relating to Iran’s trade in petroleum and petrochemical products,” the agency said. Under the determination, Treasury can now sanction “any person determined to operate in the petroleum and petrochemical sectors of the Iranian economy.”

The new OFAC designations target a network of companies that OFAC said have loaded and sold Iranian oil to buyers in Asia, including shipping businesses based in the United Arab Emirates, mainland China, Hong Kong, Liberia, the Marshall Islands, Malaysia and other countries. OFAC said these companies and their vessels make up Iran’s “ghost fleet” because they work through “obfuscation and deception” to move the oil products.

Other sanctions announced by the State Department also target companies and vessels moving Iranian oil, including businesses in Suriname, India, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

The Group of 7 countries, including the U.S., said earlier this month they were planning new sanctions against Iran for its attacks against Israel (see 2410030042).