September 13-2013
The United States has sanctioned six Iranians and four businesses for helping Iran conceal sales of oil, including oil going into Europe, the US Treasury said Friday.
The new sanction orders are the latest step in an ongoing game of whack-a-mole in which Iran finds new ways to sneak around US sanctions that operate until the US Treasury uncovers them and slaps them down.
Washington said it is targeting the network of Seyed Seyyedi, an Iranian businessman who is director of the already-sanctioned Sima General Trading.
Treasury said it also applied sanctions on individuals and companies linked to schemes to import Iranian oil into the European Union.
According to Treasury, Seyyedi acted on behalf of various Iranian entities such as the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) and Naftiran Intertrade Co (NICO). In particular, Sima General Trading financed a front company to buy oil tankers on behalf of the National Iranian Tanker Co. (NITC) and obscured Iranian ownership of tankers.
Meanwhile, Treasury said Reza Parsaei and Seyyed Mo-hamad Ali Khatibi Tabatabei, directors at NIOC International Affairs Ltd, ran a scheme to deceptively import Iranian oil into the EU that involved two directors of Iranian Oil Co Ltd, Seyed Mohaddes and Mohammed Ziracchian Zadeh.
Treasury said it was also sanctioning AA Energy FZCO, Petro Royal FZE, and KASB International LLC, all based in the United Arab Emirates, for helping Iran. Also, it sanctioned Swiss Management Services Sarl, which is used by NICO, and Mohammad Moinie, who works for Sarl in Switzerland.