Md Jubair: A day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit, the US imposed sanctions against an Indian company for buying petroleum and petrochemicals from Iran.
India-based petrochemical company Tibalaji Petrochem Pvt Ltd has been sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control. This Indian company is a part of a group of companies including United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong.
Those covered by the US sanctions include Iranian brokers and several front companies in India, the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong. They have done money transfer and shipping for Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products.
According to the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Tibalaji Petrochem Pvt Ltd bought petrochemical products worth millions of dollars, including methanol and beige oil. They bought these products from an Iranian company called Trillians, which brokers the sale of Iranian products to foreign buyers for shipping to China.
“Today, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions against an international network of companies involved in the sale of tens of millions of dollars worth of Iranian petrochemical and petroleum products to users in South and East Asia,” the US Treasury Department said in a statement.
“Today’s move targets Iranian brokers and several front companies in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and India. They are involved in money transfers and shipping against Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products,” added the US Treasury Department. However, the Government of India has not yet given any response in this regard.
India stopped importing crude oil from Iran in 2019 during the administration of former US President Donald Trump. At that time, the US did not renew its decision to exempt several countries, including India, from trade sanctions with Iran.
