WASHINGTON, Aug 1 — The United States today imposed sanctions on Chinese and other companies it said were used by one of Iran’s largest petrochemical brokers to sell tens of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian products to East Asia, as Washington continues to crack down on Iranian oil sales to the region.
The United States imposed sanctions four companies from Hong Kong, one from the United Arab Emirates, and one from Singapore today, according to the Treasury website, the latest salvo in its stepped-up effort to enforce US sanctions designed to slash Iran’s revenues from oil and petrochemicals. Since taking office in January 2021, US President Joe Biden has been loathe to sanction Chinese entities engaged in the oil and petrochemical trade with Iran due to hopes of securing an agreement to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.