(MENAFN- Live Mint) The US has sanctioned over 50 entities, including two Indian nationals, for allegedly facilitating Iranian energy sales to weaken Tehran's energy export capabilities, according to the Treasury Department's OFAC.

Here are the top updates:

1. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the sanctions on Thursday. "These actors have collectively enabled the export of billions of dollars' worth of petroleum and petroleum products, providing critical revenue to the Iranian regime and its support for terrorist groups that threaten the United States," the department said in a press release.

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2. Meanwhile, the sanctions are part of the department's efforts to curb Iran's petroleum and petrochemical exports.“The Treasury Department is degrading Iran's cash flow by dismantling key elements of Iran's energy export machine,” it said, quoting Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

3. The Indian nationals sanctioned include Varun Pula, who owns Marshall Islands-based Bertha Shipping Inc., which owns and operates the Comoros-flagged vessel PAMIR.

4. The vessel has transported nearly four million barrels of Iranian LPG to China since July 2024, according to the US statement.

5. The other Indian national sanctioned is Soniya Shrestha, who owns Vega Star Ship Management Private Limited. The company owns and operates another Comoros-flagged vessel, NEPTA, which has transported Iranian-origin LPG to Pakistan since January 2025.

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6. The statement added that all "property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons" that are in the US or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC.

7. Any entities owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 per cent or more by one or more blocked persons also stand blocked.

8. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department blacklisted China's Rizhao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal Co. as part of a broader crackdown targeting over 50 individuals, companies, and vessels involved in exporting Iranian energy. The terminal, connected to Sinopec, processes roughly 9% of China's crude oil imports.

9. By targeting the oil terminal, the Trump administration is signalling its intent to disrupt one of the largest remaining outlets for Iran's sanctioned crude, much of which ultimately ends up in Chinese refineries despite US restrictions. The blacklisted entities helped facilitate billions of dollars in commodities sales, using shadow-fleet tankers, offshore terminals and middlemen from Asia to the Middle East, the agency's Office of Foreign Assets Control said, as reported by Bloomberg.

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10. Currently, ship-tracking data shows that tankers carrying nearly 6 million barrels of crude are waiting off the coast of Rizhao. These shipments, arriving on four vessels from Brazil, Russia, Venezuela, and West Africa, highlight the diverse crude grades imported through the port. Two of the ships, the Pacific Sky and New Energy, have missed their estimated arrival times, suggesting possible uncertainty related to the new restrictions, Bloomberg reported.

(With inputs from Bloomberg, and PTI)

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