US imposes sanctions on Iranian oil minister, shadow fleet

WASHINGTON: The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad and some Hong Kong-flagged vessels that are part of a shadow fleet that helps disguise Iranian oil shipments, the Treasury Department said.

President Donald Trump re-imposed a “maximum pressure” policy on Iran in February that includes efforts to drive its oil exports to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and funding militant groups.

Paknejad “oversees the export of tens of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil and has allocated billions of dollars’ worth of oil to Iran’s armed forces for export,” Treasury said in a statement.

“The Iranian regime continues to use the proceeds from the nation’s vast oil resources to advance its narrow, alarming self-interests at the expense of the Iranian people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“Treasury will fight and disrupt any attempts by the regime to fund its destabilizing activities and further its dangerous agenda.”

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Treasury also designated owners or operators of vessels that have delivered Iranian oil to China or lifted it from storage there, it said. Those were in multiple jurisdictions, including India and China, it said.