The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Thursday announced sanctions on over 50 people, companies, and vessels for facilitating Iranian oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales and shipments from Iran. The sanctions also target Indian nationals involved in trading connected to Iran's energy sector.
In an official release, the US Department of the Treasury, stated that these actors have collectively enabled the export of billions of dollars' worth of petroleum and petroleum products, providing critical revenue to the Iranian regime and its support for terrorist groups that threaten the United States.
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According to the department, the action targets a network moving hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Iranian LPG, along with nearly two dozen shadow fleet vessels, a China-based crude oil terminal, and an independent refinery.
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“The Treasury Department is degrading Iran’s cash flow by dismantling key elements of Iran’s energy export machine,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Under President Trump, this administration is disrupting the regime’s ability to fund terrorist groups that threaten the United States.”
Notably, The Trump Administration has imposed a fourth round of sanctions, this time focusing on China-based refineries that persist in buying Iranian oil. These latest measures follow similar sanctions introduced in July and August, which targeted major facilitators of Iran’s oil export network.
According to the release, Indian nationals Varun Pula, Soniya Shrestha, and lyappan Raja have been sanctioned under Executive Order 13902 for acting, or purporting to act, directly or indirectly, for or on behalf of shipping firms involved in transporting Iranian petroleum products and LPG.
The release stated that Varun Pula owns Marshall Islands-based Bertha Shipping Inc., which operates the Comoros-flagged vessel PAMIR (IMO 9208239) that has transported nearly four million barrels of Iranian LPG to China since July 2024.
lyappan Raja owns Evie Lines Inc., also based in the Marshall Islands, which operates the Panama-flagged SAPPHIRE GAS (IMO 9320738). The vessel has transported over a million barrels of Iranian LPG to China since April 2025, the release added.
The Treasury Department noted that Soniya Shrestha owns India-based Vega Star Ship Management Private Limited, which operates the Comoros-flagged NEΡΤΑ (ΙΜΟ 9013701). The vessel has transported Iranian-origin LPG to Pakistan since January 2025.
The US Department of the Treasury further stated that the sanctions freeze all property and interests in property of the designated persons that are in the United States or under the possession or control of US persons. Any entities owned 50 per cent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
Under OFAC regulations, all transactions involving property or interests in property of blocked persons are prohibited for US persons or entities within the United States, unless specifically authorised. Violations of US sanctions laws may lead to civil or criminal penalties for both US and foreign individuals or entities.