Treasury sanctions China, Hong Kong, UAE entities tied to Iran petrochemicals sales

The US Treasury Department sanctioned June 16 Chinese, Hong Kong and UAE companies tied to Iran's petrochemicals exports to Asia.

The measures target companies that have links to already-sanctioned Triliance Petrochemical Co. for facilitating sales of of naphtha, butane, propane, methanol and other petrochemicals.

Talks have stalled between the US and Iran to revive the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, despite widespread expectations of a deal in early-2021.

"Absent a deal, we will continue to use our sanctions authorities to limit exports of petroleum, petroleum products, and petrochemical products from Iran," Brian Nelson, Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement. "The United States will continue to expose the networks Iran uses to conceal sanctions evasion activities."

Risks are rising that a derailment of the talks could cause the US and the EU to intensify sanctions, after Tehran moved to disconnect 27 nuclear surveillance cameras, according to Platts Analytics by S&P Global Commodity Insights, which had already stripped a nuclear deal and Iranian export growth from its 2022 outlook.

"Our reference case assumes diplomatic progress after US November midterm elections, but risks of a disruptive tit-for-tat are rising," said Paul Sheldon, chief geopolitical adviser.

Treasury imposed new sanctions on:

• Iran-based Marun Petrochemical, Kharg Petrochemical and Fanavaran Petrochemical for supplying products to Triliance;
• Hong Kong-based Keen Well International and Teamford Enterprises for processing payments and facilitating transactions for Triliance;
• UAE-based GX Shipping FZE, Future Gate Fuel and Petrochemical Trading, Sky Zone Trading FZE, and Youchem General Trading FZE for concealing shipment details;
• China-based Jingfeng Gao, also known as Jeff Gao, a broker involved in multimillion-dollar transactions for Iranian petrochemicals; and
• India-based Mohammad Shaheed Ruknooddin Bhore.

The sanctions freeze any assets the individuals or companies have in the US financial system and ban US persons from dealing with them.