The United States has sanctioned three Indian nationals and their shipping firms for aiding Iran's oil trade, as part of a wider crackdown targeting 50 individuals, entities and vessels - including a Chinese refinery and several traders.

The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said it had imposed sanctions on Soniya Shrestha and her India-based Vega Star Ship Management, Varun Pula and his Marshall Islands-based Bertha Shipping Inc, and Iyappan Raja and his Marshall Islands-based Evie Lines Inc.

Ships owned by Bertha and Evie Lines are alleged to have transported millions of barrels of Iranian LPG to China, while Vega Star's vessel reportedly carried Iranian LPG to Pakistan.

Among other entities sanctioned are Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group Co, a teapot refinery in China's Shandong Province which has purchased millions of barrels of Iranian oil since 2023; Rizhao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal Co (China); SEA Ship Management (UAE); and Hong Kong-based Yu Hong De Company Ltd and Juliet Trading Ltd.

"These actors have collectively enabled the export of billions of dollars worth of petroleum and petroleum products, providing critical revenue to the Iranian regime and its support for terrorist groups that threaten the United States," the Treasury Department said. "This action targets a network moving hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Iranian LPG."

The US imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran's oil exports in 2019, including secondary sanctions on foreign entities dealing with Iranian crude and products. Most major buyers, including India, halted purchases, while China continued imports.

The US, which had been lenient in enforcement, is now tightening pressure on Iran and its trading network.

Source: ET Infra. Com 

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