WASHINGTON, April 30 (KUNA) -- The Iranian regime continues to fuel conflict in the Middle East, advance its nuclear program, and support its terrorist partners and proxies, said the US State Department on Wednesday.
Today, the United States is taking action to stem the flow of revenue that the (Iranian) regime uses to fund these destabilizing activities, read a Department statement.
It noted that the Department of State is imposing sanctions on seven entities engaged in Iranian petroleum products and petrochemical products trade and is identifying two vessels as blocked property.
This action includes the designation of four sellers of Iranian petrochemicals and one purchaser who have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit funds for Iran's destabilizing activities. These companies send Iranian-origin petrochemicals and petrochemical products to third party countries and enable Iran to evade sanctions and continue to generate revenue, it explained.
The Department of State is also sanctioning one marine management company for transporting Iranian petroleum products. Two vessels managed by this company are also being identified as blocked property. Iran's energy exports are enabled by a network of such illicit shipping facilitators in multiple jurisdictions who, through obfuscation and deception, load and transport Iranian petroleum products for sale to buyers in Asia, it said The Department of State is additionally sanctioning an Iran-based cargo inspection company. Such companies are hired by buyers and shippers of cargo as third-party actors to ensure and certify that a purchased cargo is properly loaded onto the vessel transporting it. By doing so, they reduce the risk these sanctions violators face, thereby playing an important role in the supply chains for illicit Iranian energy products, the statement concluded. (end) amm.hb