The U.S. Department of State has announced a new round of sanctions targeting Iran’s oil exports, cracking down on entities and vessels engaged in illicit trading of Iranian petroleum. The sanctions, part of President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign on Iran, aim to cut off revenue streams that fund the regime’s nuclear ambitions and support for terrorism in the Middle East.
The latest action, taken under National Security Presidential Memorandum NSPM-2, marks the fourth round of sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector, which has relied on deceptive shipping practices to transport crude to buyers, particularly in Asia.
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A key target of the sanctions is Huaying Huizhou Daya Bay Petrochemical Terminal Storage Co., Ltd (Huaying Petrochemical), a China-based crude oil storage facility that has received multiple shipments of Iranian-origin petroleum.
According to the State Department, Huaying Petrochemical knowingly engaged in a significant transaction for the acquisition of Iranian crude oil in January 2025. The terminal stored one million barrels of Iranian crude, offloaded from the U.S.-designated tanker NICHOLA, which had been sanctioned in October 2024 for repeatedly transporting Iranian oil to China-based refineries.
Additionally, the Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on 19 other entities and vessels, under Executive Order 13902, which specifically targets Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sectors.
Details of the Sanctioned Oil Transfers
The State Department outlined a complex network of illicit oil shipments, including:
- NICHOLA, formerly SPIRIT OF CASPER, loaded Iranian crude via a ship-to-ship transfer with the Iran-flagged tanker SALINA in December 2024 near Singapore.
- SALINA, affiliated with the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), had originally loaded the petroleum at Kharg Island, Iran, in November 2024.
- Huaying Petrochemical’s terminal received NICHOLA on January 22, 2025, where it offloaded the one million barrels of crude.
- Since March 2021, Huaying Petrochemical has received at least nine shipments of Iranian petroleum, seven of which came directly from the U.S.-designated National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
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The new sanctions block all U.S.-based property and interests of the designated entities and individuals, effectively cutting them off from the global financial system. Key restrictions include:
- U.S. persons and companies are prohibited from engaging in transactions with sanctioned entities.
- All assets of designated persons within U.S. jurisdiction are frozen.
- Any company with 50% or more ownership by sanctioned entities is also automatically blocked.
The Trump administration’s goal is to halt Iranian oil sales that fund its nuclear and military ambitions, including support for terrorist proxies like Hezbollah and the Houthis.
“Iran’s oil exports are enabled by a network of illicit shipping facilitators who, through obfuscation and deception, load and transport Iranian oil for sale to buyers in Asia,” the State Department said in its announcement.
With Iran facing increasing economic pressure, China’s role as the largest buyer of Iranian crude oil could become a major diplomatic flashpoint. The Biden administration’s Iran policies saw a shift away from Trump-era maximum pressure tactics, but President Trump’s return to the White House has reignited his aggressive stance against Iran’s oil trade.
This latest round of sanctions signals a renewed effort to isolate Iran economically, potentially setting the stage for further geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China over Iranian oil imports.
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