ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The United States Department of Treasury has imposed sanctions on China and UAE-based companies for facilitating exports for a blacklisted Iranian petrochemical company, in yet another wave of economic measures as President Trump’s administration draws to a close.
Washington says the companies provided Triliance – a petrochemical company subject to US sanctions since January – with “critical shipping services” or made financial transactions on behalf of the company.
Petrochemical sales finance “a range of nefarious activities, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for foreign terrorist groups, and a variety of human rights abuses, at home and abroad,” the Treasury said.
Numerous entities have already been sanctioned for involvement Triliance, which Washington says gives funding to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) through the Iranian Oil Company.
Washington began imposing new sanctions on Tehran following the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal in 2018. Tensions between the US and the Islamic Republic have been on the rise ever since, coming to a head with the US assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani near Baghdad International Airport in January.
US officials have committed to ramping up pressure on Tehran before Trump leaves office in January, with his successor seemingly open to bringing the US back to the nuclear deal.
However, Iran’s leaders have said their issues are not just with the outgoing president.
"Enmities are not limited to Trump's America and will not end just because he has left office," Khamenei said on Wednesday, when he met Soleimani’s family in Tehran. “Do not trust the enemy, this is my explicit advice,” he added.
