US sanctions 4 UAE-based companies for buying Iranian petroleum products

The United States on Thursday (local time) sanctioned five UAE-based companies for "purchasing Iranian Petroleum products".

Washington [US], Mar 20 : The United States on Thursday (local time) sanctioned five UAE-based compes for "purchasing Iran Petroleum products".

Morgan Ortagus, US State Department Spokesperson tweeted: "US announced new sanctions on five UAE-based compes, which purchased Iran petroleum products. Those who evade our sanctions are enabling Iran's support for terrorism that destabilizes the region."

"The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today took action against five United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based compes that facilitate the Iran regime's petroleum and petrochemical sales. In 2019, these five compes collectively purchased hundreds of thousands of metric tons of petroleum products from the National Iran Oil Company (NIOC)," US Department of the Treasury said in a statement.

The statement alleged Iran's petroleum and petrochemical industries are major sources of revenue for the Iran regime, which has "used these funds to support the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force's (IRGC-QF) malign activities throughout the Middle East, including the support of terrorist groups."

It stated that at least three of these compes have falsified documents to conceal the Iran origin of these shipments.

US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo said in a tweet: "The U.S. sanctioned five compes for facilitating #Iran's petroleum sales. These sales fund Iran's proxies, not its people. Since 2012, the Iran regime has spent over $16 billion to support terrorist groups - they should support the needs of the Iran people instead."

( With inputs from ANI )