US sanctions 9 Indian companies, 8 nationals

Bangla Press Desk: As part of its campaign of maximum economic pressure on Iran, the US has sanctioned nine India-based companies and eight Indian nationals as part of its latest Iran-related sanctions action, alleging that they have been engaged in trade of Iranian oil, petroleum products, and petrochemicals, reports The Indian Express.

In the latest action, announced Thursday, the US Department of State imposed sanctions on nearly 40 individuals, entities, and vessels over their involvement in the trade of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products. Simultaneously, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 60 individuals, entities, and vessels for their roles in facilitating the shipment of oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Iran to overseas end users. Various entities from some other countries have also been sanctioned, including China and the United Arab Emirates.

Eight Indian chemical and petrochemical trading companies are part of the US state department sanctions lists. These include Mumbai-based firms CJ Shah & Co, Chemovick, Mody Chem, Paarichem Resources, Indisol Marketing, Haresh Petrochem, and Shiv Texchem, and Delhi-based BK Sales Corporation. According to the State Department, these companies cumulatively imported Iranian-origin petrochemicals—which are under US sanctions—worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the past couple of years.

The state department list also includes five Indian nationals—Chemovick’s director Piyush Maganlal Javiya, Indisol Marketing director Niti Unmesh Bhatt, and Haresh Petrochem directors Kamla Kasat, Kunal Kasat, and Poonam Kasat.

Three Indian nationals—Varun Pula, Iyappan Raja, and Soniya Shrestha—feature in the OFAC’s designations over their alleged association with vessels engaged in transportation of Iranian LPG. Mumbai-based shipping firm Vega Star Ship Management, which OFAC says is owned by Soniya Shrestha, has also been designated by the OFAC as a vessel—Comoros-flagged Nepta—owned by the company transporting Iranian-origin LPG to Pakistan.

Commenting on the action by the OFAC, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “The Treasury Department is degrading Iran’s cash flow by dismantling key elements of Iran’s energy export machine. Under President Trump, this administration is disrupting the regime’s ability to fund terrorist groups that threaten the United States.”

The latest action by Washington is part of the Donald Trump administration’s “maximum pressure campaign” on Iran, which has now seen multiple rounds of sanctions against individuals and firms over the past few months. Indian nationals and firms have featured on the list of sanctioned individuals and entities in earlier rounds as well. For instance, eight India-based companies and five Indian nationals were sanctioned by the US late July as part of Washington’s action against entities engaged in trade of Iranian oil, petroleum products, and petrochemicals, and those identified as part of a shipping empire controlled by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani—the son of Ali Shamkhani, a top political advisor to the Supreme Leader of Iran. This article was originally published on Daily Sun.

BP/ZE