The move comes as the nuclear deal with Iran – officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – is on the verge of collapse.
“The United States is pursuing a path of meaningful diplomacy to achieve a reciprocal return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. In the absence of a deal, we will continue to use our sanctions to limit exports of oil, petroleum products and petrochemicals from Iran, “said Brian Nelson, deputy secretary of the Treasury Department for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
According to the US Treasury Department, the sanctioned network “helps to conduct international transactions and avoid sanctions by supporting the sale of Iranian petrochemical products to customers in (the People’s Republic of China) and the rest of East Asia.”
Thursday’s sanctions are based on previous sanctions against Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (Triliance), which was sanctioned in 2020, and the Iranian Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC), which was sanctioned in 2018. According to the Ministry of Finance, these two entities are “instrumental in mediating the sale of Iranian petrochemicals abroad.”
Benam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Hawk Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), called the sanctions “politically and economically significant”, but said they could not be one-off, even if the Biden administration pursued the declared goal of a nuclear war. a JCPOA-based transaction. ” He noted that sales of petrochemical products were one of the ways Tehran sought to offset the pain of sanctions by both the Trump and Biden administrations, and said it was important to target undercover companies in the jurisdictions. competitors – China – as well as partners – the UAE.
He also told CNN that it appears for the first time the Biden administration has used an executive order issued by former President Trump following the withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 “to restore petrochemicals, precious metals, cars and selected penalties for shipping. “
The Biden administration has blamed the potential complete breakdown of the 2015 nuclear deal on the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw. Efforts to bail out the deal have failed as Iran increasingly violates the restrictions imposed by the agreement.
On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Ned Price called on Iran to “stop its provocative activities” and said the United States expected a “constructive response from the Iranians … which leaves behind questions that are beyond” the Iranian nuclear deal.
“As we and our European partners have clarified, we are ready to conclude and implement immediately the deal we agreed on in Vienna, a deal that has been on the table for several months to return to full compliance with the JCPOA. “Price said at a press briefing.
“But for that to happen, Tehran must decide to reject requests that go beyond the scope of the JCPOA, it must decide to reject issues that are external to the JCPOA,” he said. “We believe that if Iran makes this political decision, we will be able to complete and continue very quickly the mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA. If Iran does not do this, it will further jeopardize our chances of ever being able to achieve a reciprocal return to JCPOA compliance. “
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