The US Department of Treasury on Friday, August 13, sanctioned an Omani national and a bunch of companies and a carrier for “oil smuggling” out of Iran.
The department explained in a statement that these sanctions by its Office of Foreign Assets Control are in “individuals and businesses involved in an international oil smuggling network” that supports Iran’s Qods Force.
The OFAC’s actions target an individual named Mahmood Rashid Amur Al Habsi, who the department said has partnered with senior officials of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force or IRGC-QF, and “used several companies to facilitate shipments of Iranian oil to foreign customers, including buyers in East Asia.”
The statement said Omani national Al Habsi “has facilitated the sale and shipment of Iranian oil through his companies” to shield the IRGC-QF.
It added that he “has managed a vast network of individuals, shipping and oil companies, and vessels to sell Iranian petroleum products” for the Qods Force’s benefit.
He also apparently “tampered with the automated identification systems that are onboard vessels, forged shipping documents, and paid bribes, circumventing restrictions related to Iran,” said the department.
The department also sanctioned the Oman-based company Nimr International LLC and Liberia-registered firm Bravery Maritime Corporation, both of which Al Habsi owns, saying he used them to help Iran circumvent US sanctions to sell its oil.
Al Habsi is also said to have used the Oman-based Orbit Petrochemicals Trading LLC to keep the Iran’s involvement in the business a secret.
Also under the purview of the sanctions is the Liberian-flagged crude oil tanker Oman Pride which, the department said, was used by the so-called Al Habsi Business Network to ship Iranian oil.
Under the current circumstances, US sanctions forbid Iran from selling its oil, as the Gulf country engages in dialog with America and five other world powers to bring back the nuclear deal.
Former US President Donald Trump walked out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, claiming the country was not adhering to it.
Later that year, the US said it would sanction any country that bought oil from Iran.