South African company blacklisted by US over Iran oil trade – Live News

South African company has been blacklisted by the US over Iran oil trade including Chinese companies, The Trump administration said.

The United States on Wednesday identified seven companies that it has
blacklisted for trade-in Iranian petrochemicals – three based in
mainland China, three in Hong Kong and one in South Africa – the State
Department said in a statement.

Separately, the department also named five Iranian nuclear scientists
who the Commerce Department said it sanctioned on Tuesday for having
taken part in Iran’s pre-2004 nuclear weapons program and who continue
to be employed by the Iranian state.

The Trump administration on Tuesday had said it would blacklist the seven companies and five individuals but did not name them.

The announcements appeared designed to signal Washington would not
ease its campaign of choking off Tehran’s ability to export its oil,
despite appeals from China and others that it do so on humanitarian
grounds because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The US “maximum pressure” campaign, instituted after Trump in 2018
unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal Iran struck with six
major world powers, aims to force Tehran to limit its nuclear, missile
and regional activities.

The State Department identified the firms targeted as Hong Kong-based
Mcfly Plastic Hk Ltd, Saturn Oasis Co, Sea Charming Shipping Company
Ltd; Chinese companies Dalian Golden Sun Import & Export Co. Ltd.,
Tianyi International (Dalian) Co. Ltd, and Aoxing Ship Management
(Shanghai) Ltd. and South Africa’s SPI International Proprietary Ltd.

It also said it had targeted two entities that own or control SPI
International and had knowledge of its sanctionable activities: South
African company Main Street 1095 and Iranian entity Armed Forces Social
Security Investment Company.

Further, the agency targeted Mohammad Hassan Toulai, managing director of Iran’s Armed Forces Social Security Investment Company; Hossein Tavakkoli, director of SPI International; and Reza Ebadzadeh Semnani, director of Main Street 1095.

All of these entities and individuals were added to the US Treasury
Department’s Specially Designated Nationals list, blocking their assets
under US jurisdiction and generally barring US persons from dealing with
them.

The department also named five Iranian nuclear scientists who were
added to the Department of Commerce’s Entity List as Aref Bali Lashak,
Sayyed Mohammad Mehdi Hadavi, Kamran Daneshjou, Mehdi Teranchi, and Ali
Mehdipour Omrani.

Presence on the Entity List means the foreign parties are barred from
receiving some or all items subject to US export regulations unless the
exporter secures a license, according to the department.