The United States Department of the Treasury has imposed a new round of sanctions against Tehran, targeting several entities, including independent Chinese teapot refineries, as well as vessels that supplied Iranian crude oil to these processing plants.
The sanctions were imposed on Thursday. The refinery targeted for sanctions is the China-based Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical Co., Ltd.
US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated that the refinery purchased oil from vessels linked to Yemen’s Houthi movement, which the US designated this month as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. China is the largest importer of Iranian oil.
The US also placed Wang Xueqing, who is allegedly linked to the refinery, on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. Americans are prohibited from conducting business with individuals on this list, and their US assets are blocked.
Donald Trump’s new administration has issued four rounds of sanctions against Iran since February, the latest of which also includes eight vessels carrying Iranian crude.
The US Treasury blocked vessels, including the Panama-flagged Aurora Riley and Catalina, as well as the Barbados-flagged Brava Lake.
Additionally, the State Department announced sanctions on a Chinese oil terminal, Huaying Huizhou Daya Bay Petrochemical Terminal Storage, for purchasing and storing Iranian crude oil from a sanctioned vessel.
These fresh sanctions are part of the US’s “maximum pressure” campaign, aimed at reducing Iran’s oil exports to zero and ultimately undermining the Islamic Republic’s efforts to exercise the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Iran has long been subjected to Western sanctions over its nuclear activities and other pretexts, the latest of which was imposed on Thursday, March 20.
The new sanctions come amid Trump’s claim that he is “ready to negotiate with Iran.”
Leader of the Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei nullified Trump’s overtures for a new agreement earlier this month, calling them a “deception aimed at misleading global public opinion.”
“We sat down and negotiated for several years, and this very person took the completed, finalized, and signed agreement off the table and tore it up,” Ayatollah Khamenei stated.
Earlier this month, the US Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on Iran’s Oil Minister, Mohsen Paknejad.
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