A day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's visit, the United States sanctioned an Indian company for purchasing Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals.
The India-based petrochemical company, Tibalaji Petrochem Private Limited, is among a group of companies, including some from the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, to be sanctioned by the US. The sanctions have targeted Iranian brokers and several front companies in India, UAE and Hong Kong that have facilitated financial transfers and shipping of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products.
According to the US Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Tibalji Petrochem Pvt Ltd has purchased millions of dollars worth of petrochemical products, including methanol and base oil, from Triliance, an Iranian company that brokers the sale of Iranian products to foreign purchasers, for onward shipment to China.
"Today, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned an international network of companies involved in the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum products to end users in South and East Asia," the US Treasury Department said in a statement.
"Today's action targets Iranian brokers and several front companies in the UAE, Hong Kong, and India that have facilitated financial transfers and shipping of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products," it added.
A statement from the Indian government is awaited.
India stopped crude oil imports from Iran in 2019 during Donald Trump's regime after the US did not renew sanction waivers to several countries, including India.
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