US Sanctions Indian and Turkish Firms for Helping Iran

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (the US Treasury building in Washington)

The United States has hit Indian and Turkish firms with fresh sanctions for helping Iran, in a new round of its campaign to choke off Tehran's oil money. The move came just a day after voters punished the Trump administration over the Iran war in the midterm elections.

The Treasury Department announced the measures on Wednesday, targeting companies and individuals in India and Turkey that it says supported the Iranian government. They are part of what the administration calls "Operation Economic Outcast", a campaign to cut off Iran's ability to sell oil to fund the war with the United States and Israel, Reuters reported.

At the centre of the action is what Treasury called a "vast criminal network" run by India-based Suniel Kumar Sharma, his wife Jaspreet Preeti Shahid, and two other Indian citizens who head two of the couple's businesses, along with nine separate entities connected to Sharma. The department said their schemes provided false flags and certifications to sanctioned vessels carrying Iranian petroleum, including ships working for the Iranian military and its proxies.

Sharma and Shahid, based in Chandigarh, had fraudulently claimed to represent countries like Guyana, Eswatini and Laos in issuing flags and certifications, letting the vessels keep sailing while dodging international restrictions. The couple also bought web domains and set up websites that pretended to offer flagging, seafarer training and vessel classification services on behalf of those countries, and ran a network of India-based firms used to set up fake flagging registries.

The Turkish target was Fugo Ground Services Inc, which Treasury said provided ground handling and other services to several US-sanctioned Iranian airlines that kept flying to Turkey, including Iran Air Tour, Saha Airlines, Taban Airlines and Ata Airlines.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent left no doubt about the message. "We know where you are, and we will sanction those who continue supporting the Iranian regime, whether by land, sea, or air," he said. The department's Office of Foreign Assets Control also issued a new alert to industry, warning of the sanctions risk of dealing with vessels carrying potentially false flags.

In a separate action the same day, the State Department sanctioned two individuals and one entity accused of helping Iran obtain man-portable air-defence systems, the shoulder-fired missiles known as MANPADS. The targets were Mohammed Ali Tolibov, chief executive of Belarus-based Armoury Alliance, Nigeria-based Vanguard Tactical Supply Limited, and Russia-based Alisher Domullodzhanov. The department said the network tried to arrange Chinese-origin missiles for Iran through false end-users, the Express Tribune reported.

The sanctions freeze the US-linked assets of the designated people and firms, ban most dealings with them, and extend to any company they own at least half of. Foreign firms and banks can also face penalties if they help evade the restrictions, and breaking US sanctions can bring civil or criminal penalties.

The timing is hard to miss. Treasury unveiled the measures a day after Democrats won control of both houses of Congress, with voters angry about the Iran war and the petrol prices it pushed up. Treasury said last week that its actions were decimating Iran's economy, driving the rial to new lows and pushing domestic inflation to around 90 percent. India has so far not commented on the latest sanctions, and its foreign ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

President Donald Trump acknowledged on Wednesday that the Iran war, and the petrol price spike that came with it, played a part in the election losses, though he said the conflict was worth it. Oil prices fell sharply as traders weighed whether the war in Iran might now be heading towards an end. The squeeze is also being felt at sea: two tankers and a tugboat caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz this week, and South Korea has moved its navy patrols closer to the strait.

Sources

• Reuters: US slaps sanctions on Indian, Turkish firms and people for aiding Iran
• The Express Tribune: US sanctions individuals, entities over alleged efforts to supply Iran with air defense systems
• Al Arabiya: US slaps sanctions on Indian, Turkish firms and people for aiding Iran
• Daily Maverick: US slaps sanctions on Indian, Turkish firms and people for aiding Iran

The Treasury's next moves will show whether the pressure campaign tightens further or eases as Washington weighs the election result.

#Iran #Sanctions #USA #WorldNews #GlobalPolitics #Treasury #MiddleEast