UANI Applauds New Designation Of Oil Smuggling Entities And Vessel

(New York, N.Y.) — United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) released the following statement today in support of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s decision to designate entities involved with Iran’s Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industry Commercial Co., one of the regime’s largest petrochemical brokers. Among those added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List for U.S. sanctions violations include a vessel, Glory Harvest, and a company named Pioneer Shipmanagement; the former has been featured on UANI’s Stop The Hop (STH) campaign, while the latter has been connected to several of the 200+ vessels suspected of involvement in the illicit transfer of Iranian crude oil and/or petroleum products on STH’s list.  

“UANI applauds the Biden Administration’s decision to continue cracking down on Iran’s petrochemical industry. Designations are a key tool in the efforts to stymie the sanctions evasions surrounding Iranian oil. As crude and natural gas exports historically account for 25 percent of Tehran’s revenues, it is of the utmost importance that the United States hold the regime to account by strongly pursuing sanctions enforcement.  

“We have long called for the need for accurate tracking of Iran’s oil exports, not only to interpret if sanctions are effectively stopping the flow of revenue to the regime, but to identify how to thwart Tehran’s evasion techniques. Our research alone has found at least 210 vessels suspected of being involved in the illegal transfer of Iranian oil. In order to disrupt Iran’s attempts to generate profits from oil sales, we remain committed to the tracking of illicit oil smuggling and sanctions evasion of the Iranian regime.”  

In November 2020, UANI identified 70 foreign vessels suspected of involvement in the illicit transfer of Iranian crude oil and/or petroleum products. Now the list has more than doubled to over 200 foreign-flagged vessels.  

To read UANI’s report, Iran Tanker Tracking please click here 

To read the UANI blog post Stop the Hop II: The Ghost Armada Grows, please click here.

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