The United States on Monday issued a new round of sanctions targeting the oil sector of Iran, including the country’s Ministry of Petroleum. According to the US Treasury Department, the sanctions were slapped on Iran’s oil industry for supporting the Quds Force, an elite arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Washington has been blaming the paramilitary force for destabilizing the Middle East.
The latest sanctions include the National Iranian Tanker Company, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), and National Petrochemical Company, as well as some entities and individuals. The blacklisted entities and individuals will have their US assets freezed. Meanwhile, any Americans are prohibited from doing business with them.
The sanctions also blacklist Mahmoud Madanipour and UAE-based Mobin International Ltd, accusing them of facilitating Iranian fuel shipments to Venezuela. Other blacklisted entities include UK-based Madanipour, Oman Fuel Trading and Mobin Holding Ltd. Mobin Holding and Oman Fuel claimed to be the owners of cargoes aboard tankers, which the US confiscated in August.
