Triliance was blacklisted by Washington at the beginning of 2020.

The firms sanctioned by the Treasury Department late last week were Iran-based Zagros Petrochemical, three Hong Kong-based firms Dinrin, Dynapex Energy and Jingho Technolog, and the United Arab Emirates’ Petrotech FZE and Trio Energy DMCC.

Separately, the US State Department placed sanctions on five unnamed entities and three individuals for allegedly participating in transactions linked to Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical industry. The individuals were said to be principal executive officers of the sanctioned companies.

In January, the US sanctioned Triliance itself, along with Peakview Industry and Beneathco DMCC,  for dealings with Iranian state-owned National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) and in July 2019 Zhuhai Zhenrong, a company that reports said has links to the Chinese military and is a regular buyer of Iranian crude and fuel.

The Treasury Department – equivalent to a finance ministry in other countries – said the companies were singled out for their “continued involvement in the sale of Iranian petrochemical products, including efforts by Triliance to hide or otherwise obscure its involvement in sales contracts.

“Petrochemical sales remain a key revenue source for the Iranian regime, helping to finance its destabilizing support to corrupt regimes and terrorist groups throughout the Middle East and, more recently, Venezuela,” Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said and underscored that the Trump administration “remains committed to targeting those contributing to Iran’s attempts to evade US sanctions.”

Washington announced plans for the sanctions in 2018 when Trump pulled the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” (JCPOA) it had agreed with Tehran in 2014 together with Germany, France, the UK, China and Russia. The accord was aimed at preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Ahead of its planned withdrawal, the US government said it would impose sanctions on any companies doing business with Iran. As a consequence, major European petrochemical players, led by France’s Total and Germany’s BASF, put on ice again their plans for major petrochemical projects in the Islamic state.

Treasury’s most recent move to impose sanctions came on the heels of a UN discussion on the accord and Iran’s compliance. While the Trump administration is seeking a permanent UN arms embargo against Iran, the remaining parties to the nuclear accord maintain that as Washington has announced its exit from the JPCOA, it no longer has no right to impose any penalties on supply of chemicals.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist