Investing.com - The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has intensified its crackdown on Iran’s oil export network, targeting a Chinese refinery and several logistics companies for their involvement in purchasing and facilitating Iranian crude oil . The actions taken today, as part of the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign, aim to disrupt the financial channels Iran uses to fund destabilizing activities.

The Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group Co., Ltd., a "teapot" refinery in Hebei Province, along with its Singapore-based oil broker Xing AO Energy PTE. LTD., has been designated under Executive Order (E.O.) 13846. The refinery has been implicated in the purchase of Iranian oil, some shipments of which were facilitated by vessels previously sanctioned for transporting Iranian petroleum.

In addition, OFAC has designated three companies operating a port terminal at Dongying Port in China’s Shandong Province. These firms have received Iranian oil shipments from vessels associated with Iran’s "shadow fleet." The terminal operators, Baogang (Dongying Donggang) Logistics and Warehousing Co., Ltd. and Shandong Jingang Port Co., Ltd., along with the previous controlling shareholder Baogang International, are targeted under E.O. 13902 and E.O. 13846, respectively.

The sanctions also extend to the shadow fleet itself, with several vessels and their captains designated for their role in transporting Iranian oil. The vessels, which include the STAR TWINKLE 6, LAMD, SKADI, BIG MAG, IMPALAS, and THANE, have been used to conduct ship-to-ship transfers, obscuring the origin of the oil shipments. The respective owning companies of these vessels have been designated under E.O. 13902, and the vessels have been identified as blocked property.

Captains Ketan Agarwal and Lincoln Francisco Viegas, who have operated sanctioned vessels transporting Iranian oil, are also designated pursuant to E.O. 13902 for their involvement in the petroleum sector of the Iranian economy.

As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property of the identified entities and individuals that are within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. The Treasury Department warns that violations of the sanctions could lead to civil or criminal penalties.

Today’s actions represent a continuation of the U.S. government’s efforts to apply economic pressure on Iran by targeting its oil exports, a significant source of revenue for the Iranian regime. This information is based on a press release statement.

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