United States Imposes New Sanctions on Iranian Oil Sales

(Patria) - The United States announced it has imposed new sanctions on Iranian oil trade, even after Washington and Tehran reached a preliminary agreement to extend the truce and lift restrictions on navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported.

The Treasury Department said it sanctioned eight vessels involved in transporting Iranian crude oil and petroleum products to global markets. Among the vessels were the tanker "Flora" under the flag of the Marshall Islands, the crude oil tanker "Hauncayo" under the flag of Comoros, and the tanker "Ill Gap" under the flag of Panama.

"We will not allow the Iranian government to increase its oil revenues for the purpose of reconstituting its armed forces and military capabilities," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

President Donald Trump has not yet approved the ceasefire agreement in the war, which the US and Israel launched on February 28. The conflict roiled global markets by closing the vital strait between Iran and Oman through which twenty percent of the world's oil and gas normally flows.

The United States also imposed sanctions on more than fifteen entities, including Worth Seen Energy Limited in Hong Kong, Symphony Shipping and Maritime Management Inc in Dubai, and Mehdiyev Trading Co, also in Hong Kong.

The Treasury Department stated that some of the sanctioned Iranian entities use the oil sales infrastructure of the Iranian armed forces to secure petroleum products outside Iran.

It stated that Worth Seen, for example, procures refined petroleum products for the National Iranian Oil Company on behalf of Sepehr Energy Jahan, the oil sales division of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, which the United States had previously sanctioned.