The US authorities have imposed restrictions on 13 companies and eight ships that, according to the US side, are connected to the transportation of Iranian oil and its refining in China, the US Treasury Department said in a statement.
As follows from the document, the restrictions will apply in particular to the Chinese company Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical, which is engaged in oil refining, and its director Sueqin Wang. The company, according to the US Treasury Department, has "purchased millions of barrels of Iranian oil for about 500,000 billion USD".
As follows from the document, the new restrictive measures also affect companies involved in maritime transport, registered in particular in China and Panama. These companies, according to the US side, are connected with the transportation of Iranian oil. The vessels subject to restrictions, according to the US Treasury Department, are used to transport Iranian energy products. Inclusion in the sanctions list means freezing assets in the United States and prohibiting American citizens and companies from doing business with those involved.
As US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant emphasized, the United States is “committed to cutting off the financial flows“ that allow Iran to earn income. On February 4, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order restoring Washington's maximum pressure on Tehran. The document is aimed, in particular, at preventing the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear weapons. It also provides for Washington to step up its efforts to reduce Iranian oil exports. In this regard, Trump stated that the US has the right to block Iran's energy supplies to other countries.
Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejjad said in early February that imposing unilateral sanctions on oil-exporting countries "clearly destabilizes oil and energy markets and causes serious harm to energy consumers around the world."