July 7. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The United States Government has announced new sanctions against 15 people and entities allegedly involved in “illicit sales” of Iranian oil, within the framework of the battery of punitive measures against Iran since Washington unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from the nuclear agreement signed in 2015 .
“While the United States is committed to reaching an agreement with Iran that achieves a mutual return to compliance with the nuclear agreement, we will continue to use all authority to apply sanctions to the sale of Iranian oil and petrochemical products,” explained the deputy secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has highlighted that “these entities, located in Iran, Vietnam, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Hong Kong, have supported Iran’s energy trade, generating millions of dollars of illicit income” .
Those sanctioned include Vietnam-based Truong Phat Loc Shipping Trading JSC for “engaging in the shipment of petroleum products from Iran” as well as Singapore-based Everwin Ship Management Pte. Ltd. for “operating as technical manager of a ship that transported oil products from Iran”.
The sanctions also affect the Iranian companies Zagros Tarabaran-E Arya, Persian Gulf Star Oil Company, and East Ocean Rashin Shipping Co. Ltd, for participating “in the sale or shipment of Iranian oil products”, to which are added eight entities and two individuals in Iran, Hong Kong and the UAE.
“The United States has been sincere and steadfast in its pursuit of a path of meaningful diplomacy to bring about a mutual return to full implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal. It is Iran that has, to date, failed to demonstrate a commitment similar with this road,” said Blinken.
In this sense, he has emphasized that “in the absence of a change of course by Iran, the United States will continue to use the authority to apply sanctions against exports of oil, oil products and petrochemical products from Iran,” according to a statement published by the Department of State on its website.
The president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, criticized last week that Western countries “are not serious” in the negotiations on the possible reactivation of the agreement, after the failed indirect contacts with the United States in Qatar, while the Iranian foreign minister, Hosein Amirabdolahian said on Tuesday that “the United States must decide whether it wants a deal or insists on sticking to unilateral demands, since they are mutually exclusive.”
The US administration said it was “disappointed” after the talks between US and Iranian officials in Doha. Thus, he regretted that the talks are stalled and criticized that Tehran has not responded positively to the initiative of the European Union (EU).
The talks in Qatar came after months of deadlock after numerous rounds of talks in Vienna, Austria, failed to achieve a breakthrough. The United States withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 with then-President Donald Trump, and Iran has increasingly tightened restrictions on its nuclear program.
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