US hits Hong Kong and UAE firms with new round of Iran-related sanctions
Announcement comes after Trump-Xi phone call and amid Washington’s efforts to make headway on a nuclear deal with Tehran
“The regime leverages this network to evade sanctions and move money from its oil and petrochemical sales, which help the regime fund its nuclear and missile programmes and support its terrorist proxies,” the US Treasury Department said of Iran in its statement.
“To justify payments for sanctioned goods, shadow banking brokers may generate fictitious invoices or transaction details,” it added. “Front companies are created in jurisdictions with lower levels of regulatory supervision so that they can avoid scrutiny of their business practices or ownership.”
The sanctioned Hong Kong-based companies include Hero Companion Limited, Plzcome Limited and Kinlere Trading Limited, among others.