US pressures Iran by targeting Hong Kong and UAE firms
- Penalties over petrochemical exports were also imposed on Chinese citizen Jinfeng Gao and Indian national Mohammed Shaheed Ruknooddin Bhore
- The US Treasury named the sanctioned Hong Kong-based companies as Keen Well International and Teamford Enterprises
The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on Hong Kong and Emirati companies and a network of Iranian firms that help export Iran’s petrochemicals, a step that may aim to raise pressure on Tehran to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
The US Treasury department said it had imposed penalties on two companies based in Hong Kong, three in Iran, and four in the United Arab Emirates, as well as on Chinese citizen Jinfeng Gao and Indian national Mohammed Shaheed Ruknooddin Bhore.
“The United States is pursuing the path of meaningful diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement, referring to the 2015 nuclear agreement.
Under the pact, Iran limited its nuclear programme to make it harder for Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon in exchange for relief from US, European Union and United Nations sanctions that had choked Iran’s oil-dependent economy.
Then US President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018 and restored US sanctions, prompting Iran to start violating the nuclear restrictions about a year later. Talks to revive the agreement have so far failed.