India, March 14 -- The U.S. Government has imposed sanctions on Iran's Minister of Petroleum, Mohsen Paknejad, and a number of service providers that facilitate Iran's crude oil trade.
The companies targeted by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control include Chinese and Indian, for their ownership or operation of vessels that have delivered Iranian oil to China, or lifted Iranian oil from storage facilities in the Chinese port of Dalian.
These companies provide services to the ghost fleet vessels conducting ship-to-ship transfer operations outside port limits in Southeast Asia, and enabling Iran's attempts to disguise its illicit oil trade.
The sanctioned companies are Hong Kong-based Hong Kong Heshun Transporta...