America targets companies from China and Emirates for Iranian petrochemical sales

The US placed sanctions on Chinese and Emirati corporations, as well as a network of Iranian firms that assist in the export of Iran’s petrochemicals, on Thursday, a move that could be aimed at increasing pressure on Tehran to resurrect the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

 

The US Treasury Department announced sanctions against two Hong Kong-based firms, three Iranian companies, and four UAE entities, as well as Chinese citizen Jinfeng Gao and Indian national Mohammed Shaheed Ruknooddin Bhore.

 

In a statement, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson stated, “The United States is pursuing the road of serious diplomacy to seek a reciprocal return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” referring to the 2015 nuclear accord.

 

Iran agreed to curtail its nuclear programme in exchange for respite from sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations, which had suffocated Iran’s oil-dependent economy.

 

In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement and reinstated US sanctions, prompting Iran to begin breaking nuclear limitations a year later. So far, efforts to resurrect the deal have failed.

 

‘In the absence of an agreement, we will continue to exercise our sanctions authorities to restrict Iranian oil, petroleum products, and petrochemical exports,’ Nelson warned.

 

The sanctions, according to Henry Rome, deputy head of research at the Eurasia Group, may be designed to increase pressure on Iran while also stifling domestic critics who claim that US President Joe Biden has failed to rein in Iran’s nuclear development.

 

‘Washington is likely aiming to increase the costs for Iran of a continued no-deal scenario while also deflecting domestic and international criticism that it is allowing its Iran policy to drift,’ Rome said, adding that a single sanction action would be unlikely to change Iran’s or China’s minds without a broader strategy.

 

‘In fact, given the situation of the oil market and global inflationary pressures, Tehran may conclude that a concerted (US) drive to bring Iranian energy exports back to Trump-era levels is unlikely in the near future,’ Rome wrote.