Overview
- The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the designations on Friday, naming 12 entities and six LPG tankers it says moved Iranian-origin fuel to buyers in South and East Asia.
- US officials said the network used front companies in the UAE and China, foreign bank accounts, and Iran’s shadow fleet to mask the origin of millions of barrels of LPG and evade sanctions.
- OFAC also sanctioned Iranian exchange house Mehrdad Geramian Nik and Partners and its leadership for moving hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign currency for sanctioned Iranian banks.
- The action was taken under Executive Order 13902 and the Treasury warned it may impose secondary sanctions on foreign companies or banks that help facilitate the trade.
- The move builds on prior US steps targeting Iran’s shadow banking and tanker networks and could further squeeze Tehran’s ability to fund weapons programs and proxy operations while complicating delicate diplomacy.