While Washington and Tehran remain engaged in negotiations over a new nuclear deal to potentially lift sanctions on Iran’s economy and oil sector (MEES, 25 April), the Trump administration continues to tighten the sanctions regime. On 22 April the US Treasury sanctioned Iranian “magnate” Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh for allegedly “shipping hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian LPG and crude oil to foreign markets” through a network of companies he runs with his son.
The Treasury said that “In addition to crude oil, LPG continues to be a major source of revenue for the Iranian regime, the proceeds of which fund Iran’s nuclear and advanced conventional weapons programs, as well as regional proxy groups and partners such as Hizballah, the Houthis, and Hamas.” Aside from running mostly UAE-based businesses that sell LPG on behalf of major Iranian petchems producer PGPIC and controlling a monopoly over NIGC’s LPG deliveries, the department also accuses Mr Emamjomeh of buying US LPG for the benefit of Chinese buyers. (CONTINUED - 265 WORDS)
