US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to impose sanctions on seven companies under the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) for their activities in support of Iran's energy sector.
The companies are PCCI (Jersey/Iran), Royal Oyster Group (UAE), Speedy Ship (UAE/Iran), Tanker Pacific (Singapore), Ofer Brothers Group (Israel), Associated Shipbroking (Monaco), and Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) (Venezuela).
According to the US State Department, Petrochemical Commercial Company International (PCCI), Royal Oyster Group and Speedy Ship (Sepahan Oil Company, SPD) are among the largest current suppliers of refined petroleum products to Iran and all three, "regularly engaged in deceptive practices in order to ship these products to Iran and evade US sanctions. The sanctions we have imposed on these firms will prohibit them from US foreign exchange transactions, US banking transactions, and all US property transactions.
Tanker Pacific, Ofer Brothers Group and Associated Shipbroking are being sanctioned for their respective roles in a September 2010 transaction that provided a tanker valued at US$8.65 million to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), an entity that has been designated by the United States, and the European Union for its role in supporting Iran's proliferation activities.
"We believe that Tanker Pacific and Ofer Brothers Group failed to exercise due diligence and did not heed publicly available and easily obtainable information that would have indicated that they were dealing with IRISL. The secretary will hold companies accountable, as required by the ISA, when they know or 'should have known' they were providing sanctionable goods or services to Iran. With the imposition of today's sanctions, Tanker Pacific and Ofer Brothers Group are barred from securing financing from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, from obtaining loans over US$10 million from US financial institutions, and from receiving US export licenses.
"Tanker Pacific takes seriously its obligations under CISADA and other applicable laws related to trading with Iran, and has worked hard to achieve compliance with those requirements in all its activities," said a Tanker Pacific statement.
"Tanker Pacific has assured the American authorities that all appropriate action was taken at the time of the transaction to ascertain that the parties involved were not connected to the Iranian shipping company, IRISL, or any other entity subject to sanctions. It is Tanker Pacific's firm policy not to transact with any such parties.
"Tanker Pacific believes that today's decision announced by the American authorities is in error and is working closely with the US Department of State and other US authorities to resolve this matter as quickly as possible."
The State Department went on to say that Associated Shipbroking knowingly acted on behalf of an IRISL front company, and as a result is now prohibited from US foreign exchange transactions, US banking transactions and all US property transactions.
Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the state-owned oil company of Venezuela, has delivered at least two cargoes of reformate to Iran between December 2010 and March 2011, worth approximately US$50 million, said the State Department.
Similar sanctions now apply to PDVSA, though the State Department stressed that these sanctions do not prohibit the export of crude oil to the United States.
