As a part of its "maximum pressure campaign" on Iran, the US has sanctioned eight Indian based companies and five Indian nationals, who are engaged in the trade of Iranian oil, petroleum products, and petrochemicals. This also includes entities that are a part of the shipping empire under Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, who is the son of Ali Shamkhani, a top political advisor to the Iranian Supreme Leader.
On Wednesday, the US Department of State imposed sanctions on 20 entities, identifying 10 vessels as blocked property. At the same time, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 50 individuals and entities, identifying 50 vessels involved in Hossein Shamkhani's network.
Six Indian entities, namely, Kanchan Polymers, Alchemical Solutions (Chemform Trading), Ramniklal S Gosalia and Company, Jupiter Dye Chem, Global Industrial Chemicals, and Persistent Petrochem. These companies have been identified in the State Department as well as the OFAC lists. They import Iranian-origin petrochemicals, which are sanctioned by US. Ensa Ship Management and Shreeji Gems are in the OFAC designations for their alleged connections with Hossein Shamkhani's network.
Indian nationals mentioned in the OFAC designations are Mohamed Rafeek Habibullah, Jacob Kurian, Anil Kumar Panackal Narayanan Nair, Pankaj Nagjibhai Patel, and Elyas Jafer Tambe. Habibullah operates in the petroleum sector, Nigeria-based Kurian and India-based Nair are shareholders and directors in Neo Shipping, based in the Marshall Islands, with a vessel managed by Hossein's network. Patel, who is the director of Shreeji Gems, has served as an executive on several shipping companies in Hossein's network. Tambe is also associated with multiple companies of Hossein's network.
The Donald Trump administration has been imposing multiple rounds of sanctions against various individuals and firms dealing with Iran as a part of its "maximum pressure campaign" against it. In its earlier released sanctions list, various Indian nationals and firms were mentioned. Many of them operate through the "shadow fleet" of tankers to facilitate energy and trade. They are sanctioned again and again for violations of previous energy-related sanctions.
In its statement, the US State Department said, "The Iranian regime continues to fuel conflict in the Middle East to fund its destabilizing activities. Today, the United States is taking action to stem the flow of revenue that the regime uses to support terrorism abroad, as well as to oppress its own people. The Department of State is imposing sanctions on 20 entities engaged in Iranian petroleum, petroleum products, or petrochemical trade and is identifying 10 vessels as blocked property."
The OFAC alleged that, "Hossein Shamkhani leverages corruption through his father's political influence at the highest levels of the Iranian regime to build and operate a massive fleet of tankers and containerships. His network transports oil and petroleum products from Iran and Russia, as well as other cargo, to buyers around the world, generating tens of billions of dollars in profit."