US imposes sanctions on Chinese port and refinery over ties to Iranian oil exports

The US Treasury Department announced that it has imposed sanctions on more than 50 individuals, companies, and ships linked to Iran’s oil sector, strengthening measures against a key source of revenue for Tehran.

The sanctions target people who assist in Iranian shipments of liquefied petroleum gas and include a Chinese port and oil refinery, the department said, according to the AFP news agency.

The announcement comes a few weeks after the United Nations announced so-called “snapback sanctions” against Iran over its nuclear and missile programs, deepening Tehran’s international isolation.

“The Treasury Department is reducing Iranian cash flow by dismantling key elements of Iran’s energy export mechanism,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

Among the targets is Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group Co, a Chinese refinery that the ministry claims has purchased millions of barrels of Iranian oil since 2023.

The department also sanctioned the company that operates the Rizhao Shihua crude oil terminal in Lanshan Port, accusing it of receiving more than a dozen ships carrying millions of barrels of Iranian oil.

The statement said this was the fourth set of sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department on Chinese refineries since US President Donald Trump returned to power in January this year.

Hundreds of individuals, companies, and ships have already been sanctioned for their ties to Iran as part of the US administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign. The Treasury Department’s action means that all “funds and interests in funds” owned by sanctioned individuals are now blocked. All companies directly or indirectly owned by one of the sanctioned individuals are also blocked, the ministry said.

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