US Sanctions Crackdown on Iran Oil Trade Hits Mutiple Indian Firms and Nationals

In what appears to be one of the biggest sanctions push since 2018, the US has sanctioned over 115 Iran-linked individuals, companies and vessels. The move, announced by the US Treasury on Wednesday, is aimed at crippling Tehran’s oil shipping network that fuels its economy and reportedly funds its nuclear ambitions.

According to a release by the US Treasury Department, at the center of the stringent decision is Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, son of Ali Shamkhani, a top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “The Shamkhani family’s shipping empire highlights how the Iranian regime elites leverage their positions to accrue massive wealth and fund the regime’s dangerous behaviour,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

Indian Firms in the US Sanctions Net

Notably, multiple Indian nationals and India-linked companies, including Shreeji Gems Ltd. are on the sanctions list for allegedly being part of Shamkhani’s oil laundering operation. Indian national Pankaj Nagjibhai Patel’s name also appears on the list for his alleged executive roles in firms linked to the network.

According to the US State Department, the Shamkhani network used shell companies in the UAE, Marshall Islands, Hong Kong, and even India to obscure the origins of Iranian and Russian oil.

Billions Laundered, Oil to China

The operation reportedly moved billions of dollars in Iranian and Russian oil through a fleet of tankers using fake ownership documents and rerouted cargo logs. China, Iran’s top oil buyer, continues to receive shipments, often through deceptive practices like disabling ship tracking systems, the release stated.

“These actions put America first by targetting regime elites that profit while Tehran threatens the safety of the United States,” Bessent added.

Geopolitical Ripple Effects

While a US official told news agency Reuters that the move would make it “much more difficult” for Iran to sell oil, the individual noted that it wouldn’t “disrupt global oil markets” in any major way. However, the sanctions have raised concerns in New Delhi, where Indian refiners have previously been caught in the crosshairs of the US pressure over Iranian oil.

The sanctions come weeks after President Donald Trump’s administration-led US airstrikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities, including Fordow, in June. 

“Iran has been sending out ‘nasty signals’,” Trump had said earlier this week, warning that any attempt to revive nuclear sites would be “immediately quashed.”

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