The Treasury Department sanctioned a Chinese oil refinery for purchasing $1 billion in Iranian crude oil as part of a broader US crackdown on companies and vessels skirting US sanctions.
Some of the crude purchased by the Shandong Shengxing Chemical Co.’s independent “teapot” refinery came from a front company for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Treasury said, noting that the proceeds help finance the Iranian regime and its support for militant groups.
“Any refinery, company or broker that chooses to purchase Iranian oil or facilitate Iran’s oil trade places itself at serious risk,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement Apr. 16. “The United States is committed to disrupting all actors providing support to Iran’s oil supply chain, which the regime uses to support its terrorist proxies and partners.”
The move is the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC)’s second action against a teapot refinery that has bought Iranian crude oil, and the sixth round of sanctions targeting Iranian oil sales since President Donald Trump issued a memorandum to exert “maximum economic pressure” on Iran in February, Treasury said.
OFAC is also imposing additional sanctions on several companies and vessels responsible for facilitating Iranian oil shipments to China as part of Iran’s “shadow fleet” and has updated its sanctions advisory to help the global shipping and maritime industry to identify “sanctions-evasion practices” related to shipping of Iranian crude and products (OGJ Online, Oct. 21, 2024).
The new sanctions came the same day that Iran confirmed it would hold another round of talks with the US later this month concerning Tehran’s nuclear program.
