Trump admin targets Iran’s oil with new sanctions
The United States on Monday announced sanctions against more than 30 Iran-linked people and vessels, including the head of the national oil company, for brokering the sale and shipment of Iranian oil.
“Iran continues to rely on a shadowy network of vessels, shippers, and brokers to facilitate its oil sales and fund its destabilizing activities,” US Treasury Scott Bessent claimed in a statement announcing the designations, AFP reported.
“The United States will use all our available tools to target all aspects of Iran’s oil supply chain, and anyone who deals in Iranian oil exposes themselves to significant sanctions risk,” he added.
Among those targeted Monday was Hamid Bovard, Iran’s deputy petroleum minister, and the chief executive officer of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
The United States previously designated the NIOC for alleged providing support to the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
Others hit Monday include oil brokers based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Hong Kong, and tanker operators and managers in India and China, the Treasury Department said.
It accused the vessels sanctioned of helping ship “tens of millions of barrels of crude oil valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”
The State Department also announced sanctions against an additional 16 companies Monday “for their involvement in the sale, purchase, and transportation of Iranian petroleum,” the Treasury Department said.
New sanctions are the second set of sanctions on Iran after the US President Donald Trump revived his so-called maximum pressure strategy against Iran.
On February 6, the US State Department announced its first set of sanctions against Iran’s crude oil export to China.
According to the Treasury Department, entities and individuals in China, India and the UAE were all sanctioned.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in an address to a meeting of the UN human rights in Geneva on Monday deplored the illegal sanctions imposed on Iran, saying that, “In recent decades, Iran has faced various challenges, including terrorism and illegal sanctions.”
Iran’s top diplomat added, “Some countries are preventing the targeted countries from accessing medicine and other essential items by imposing sanctions on some other countries. We demand the removal of all unilateral sanctions. These sanctions violate the rights of Iranians.”