US Treasury Department imposes sanctions on Tibalaji Petrochem for violating Iranian sanctions

30 Sep 2022 , 11:43 AM

The US Treasury Department has placed sanctions on Mumbai-based Tibalaji Petrochem Private Limited, presumably the first step against an Indian company for allegedly dealing in Iranian petroleum goods.

The corporation “bought millions of dollars’ worth” of petrochemical chemicals, according to the Department’s statement on Thursday, for “onward export to China.”

In the most recent wave of penalties, the firm was one of eight targets.

The other ones are in China, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The sanctions were announced shortly after India’s Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, returned from his trip to Washington, where he had meetings with a number of influential people, including Secretaries of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Commerce Secretary Gail Raimondo.

India has complied with the sanctions put in place against Tehran by the US, and its businesses have refrained from purchasing gasoline from Iran.

The claimed transactions by Tibalaji, which calls itself as a “expanding petrochemical trading company” on its website, appear to be for the import of Chinese materials rather than Iranian materials to India.

After Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council as well as Germany struck a deal in 2015 to limit Iran’s nuclear program’s ability to be weaponized, the majority of US sanctions were withdrawn.

However, they were reinstated after former US President Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement and Tehran resumed work on its nuclear weapons development.

According to the Treasury Department, all of the eight businesses’ properties and interests in US companies, or those in which they hold at least a 50% stake, “shall be prohibited” and reported to its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

For feedback and suggestions, write to us at [e-mail]