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The US Treasury Department announced Thursday it sanctioned Chinese “teapot” refinery Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group and three port terminal operators in Shandong Province for purchasing Iranian oil amid nuclear talks with Tehran, Anadolu reports.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) targeted entities involved in “purchasing or facilitating the delivery of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil,” according to a statement.
OFAC also imposed sanctions on several companies, vessels and captains responsible for “facilitating Iranian oil shipments as part of Iran’s ‘shadow fleet.'”
“The United States remains resolved to intensify pressure on all elements of Iran’s oil supply chain to prevent the regime from generating revenue to further its destabilizing agenda,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The State Department added: “So long as Iran attempts to generate oil revenues to fund its destabilizing activities, the United States will hold both Iran and all its partners in sanctions evasion accountable.”
The US has accused Iran of backing the Yemeni Houthi group that has targeted ships passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden since November 2023 in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
READ: Israel expresses concern over potential US-Iran deal
The news sanctions mark OFAC’s third action against a teapot refinery and first targeting terminal operators in Shandong Province, where “the majority of Iranian crude oil exports” are purchased, according to the agency.
The sanctions block all US-based property and interests of designated entities, with violations potentially resulting in “civil or criminal penalties on US and foreign persons.”
The action comes as the fourth round of US-Iran nuclear talks, scheduled for last Saturday in Rome, was postponed due to logistical reasons.
US President Donald Trump has threatened military action if a new agreement is not reached to replace a 2015 nuclear deal, repeatedly emphasizing that Iran “cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
READ: Iran accuses US of ‘provocative statements’ ahead of nuclear talks
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