US sanctions six companies linked to Iran's petrochemical industry
The US Treasury Department has added two individuals and six international companies linked to Iran's oil and petrochemical industries to its sanctions list, accusing them of acting as intermediaries in financing the Quds Force for its activities in the Middle East.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned four international petrochemical and oil companies for their involvement in National Iranian Oil Company exports and hundreds of millions of dollars in cash transfers. The companies are accused of providing funding to the Quds Force for operations in the Middle East.
US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said: "Iran's petrochemical and oil sectors are major sources of funding for the Islamic Republic's terrorist activities and violence against its citizens."
The US Treasury Department statement published on its website states: "One Iranian, one Chinese, and six companies based in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong are being sanctioned for their ties to Iran's petrochemical industries."
The individuals sanctioned are Ali Bhaindrian and Zhiqing Wang. The companies include Trillance, Zig Energy, Peakview, Jiaxing, Bentaco DMCC, and Shandong Qianhua.
The US Treasury Department has announced that Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd, a Hong Kong-based broker with branches in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, China and Germany, in 2019, while concealing the Iranian origin of oil shipments, arranged the transfer of millions of dollars to Iranian petrochemical companies through Dubai and also helped sell millions of dollars of oil from Naftiran Intertrade Company to Chinese companies.
The US Treasury writes that Trillium Kish Company, which is the company's branch in Iran, recently changed its name and operates under the name Tiba Parsian Kish Petrochemical Company.
The department announced that all assets and property of the individuals and companies named have been frozen and no one has the right to deal with them. The US Treasury also warned that any company or individual that assists in the banking and financial transactions of the sanctioned individuals will be subject to subsequent US sanctions.
Source: DW
