US imposes new oil-related sanctions on Iran

The US Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that it had targeted nearly two dozen companies in a global network that it claimed has been shipping Iranian oil to China.

The sanctions came just days after Iran and the US carried out a fourth round of indirect talks aimed at working out a deal that can remove US sanctions from Iran in return for curbs on Tehran’s nuclear program.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a statement that the new sanctions target companies, buyers, and facilitators that work with Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff and what it described as the force’s main commercial affiliate, Sepehr Energy.

It added the sanctions are the 19th such action taken by the US government against Iran since February 4, when US President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum ordering a campaign of maximum pressure on the country.

Iran has repeatedly dismissed the significance of US sanctions and their impacts on its economy. However, authorities have warned that issuing sanctions amid ongoing nuclear talks may undermine Tehran’s confidence in the process.

The talks between Iran and the US began in early April under Oman’s mediation. Both sides have described their indirect meetings as generally positive.

The new designations announced by OFAC included companies based in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and Seychelles, two tankers, and an Iranian individual claimed to be a financial inspector of Sepehr Energy.