OFAC sanctions entities for providing support to Iranian petrochemical company

Financial Crimes OFAC Department of Treasury Sanctions Iran Of Interest to Non-US Persons

On September 3, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated six entities, pursuant to Executive Order 13846, for allegedly providing support to a petrochemical company previously designated for “transfer[ing] the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of exports from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), which helps to finance Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and its terrorist proxies.” According to OFAC, the designated entities “materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of” the sanctioned petrochemical company by, among other things, (i) selling and purchasing thousands of tons of petrochemicals on behalf of the company; (ii) brokering the sales of petrochemicals for the company; (iii) facilitating the shipment and resale of petrochemical products for the company; and (iv) processing millions of dollars in proceeds of petrochemical sales.

As a result of the sanctions, all property and interests in property of the designated persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. OFAC further warned foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitating significant transactions or providing significant support to the designated entities may subject them to sanctions and could sever access to the U.S. financial system.