The United States has imposed new sanctions on three individuals and nine companies accused of helping Iran export oil to China. The sanctions target firms based in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, as well as companies from Oman and Dubai, which Washington says were involved in the sale and transport of Iranian oil through a network of front companies.
According to the US Treasury Department, the measures are aimed at individuals and companies that allegedly assisted Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in selling and transporting Iranian oil to China. Washington claims the network used a so-called “shadow fleet” and front companies to move and sell Iranian oil despite existing restrictions.
The sanctioned companies include Hong Kong Blue Ocean, Hong Kong Sanmu, Ocean Alliance Shipping from Dubai and Atik Energy from Sharjah. US authorities also said some of the listed companies had entered contracts worth tens of millions of dollars for the purchase of Iranian oil.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration would continue using sanctions to prevent the financing of Iran’s military, weapons programs and Tehran’s regional allies. He stated that the Treasury would continue cutting the Iranian regime off from financial networks used for terrorism-related activities and destabilization of the global economy.
At the same time, the US State Department offered a reward of up to 15 million dollars for information that could help disrupt the financial mechanisms of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The decision comes several days before the expected meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, where the crisis with Iran and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz are also expected to be discussed.
