The US Treasury Department announced on Wednesday that it is freezing the assets of members of an international network for violating oil sanctions on Tehran by selling millions of dollars worth of Iranian petrochemical products to East Asia.
The sanctions target Iranian petrochemical firms and suspected front companies in China and the United Arab Emirates for the Iranian state-owned company and Triliance, a Hong Kong-based company already under US sanctions for its dealings with Iran.
Washington previously imposed sanctions on Iranian petrochemical producers and Chinese and Indian brokers in mid-June, increasing pressure amid stalled negotiations to restore a 2015 deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program.
“While the United States has committed to reaching an agreement with Iran seeking a mutual return to compliance with the joint comprehensive plan of action, we will continue to use all our powers to enforce sanctions,” the Treasury Department said, referring to that nuclear deal.
Wednesday’s announcement came ahead of a highly anticipated visit by President Joe Biden to Israel and Saudi Arabia next week, during which efforts to contain Iran’s nuclear threat will be high on the agenda.
Sanctions were also imposed on China-based broker Jeff Gao and Indian citizen Mohammad Shaheed Ruknooddin Bhore for allegedly conducting business for Triliance.
All property and interests of targets in the United States will be frozen and US residents and companies will be prevented from doing business with them.
– Deadlock nuclear talks –
The US State Department announced it would impose parallel sanctions on 15 individuals and companies based in Iran, the United Arab Emirates and East and Southeast Asia for distributing Iranian oil and petrochemical products.
“The United States has sincerely and steadfastly embarked on a path of meaningful diplomacy to achieve a collective return to full implementation of the joint comprehensive plan of action,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“It is Iran that has so far failed to demonstrate a similar commitment to this path.”
In April 2021, Biden’s government in Vienna launched a new round of negotiations with Iran with the aim of bringing the United States back into the nuclear deal, including by lifting sanctions on Iran.
But the always-thorny dialogue has stalled since March.
The 2015 accord with world powers, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program to guarantee Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon — something it has always denied wanting to do this.
But in 2018, then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal and re-imposed severe economic sanctions, prompting Iran to back down on its own commitments.
Iran’s foreign minister said in June the “train still hasn’t derailed” in negotiations to restore the JCPOA, despite US sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic that month.
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