US Maintains Pressure on Iran; Sanctions Three More Companies
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. State Department Thursday announced it had imposed sanctions on three companies that provide refined petroleum products to Iran. Under the Iran Sanctions Act, Zhenrong, Kuo Oil and FAL Oil Company were “barred from receiving U.S. export licenses, U.S. Export Import Bank financing, and loans over $10 million from U.S. financial institutions,” according to a State Department release.
One of the newly restricted companies, the China-based Zhenrong, is the largest supplier of refined petroleum product to Iran. The company brokered the delivery of over $500 million in gasoline to Iran between July 2010 and January 2011. The company also entered into individual deals “worth significantly more than the $1 million threshold under U.S. law and the total value of the transactions well above the $5 million threshold for sanctionable activities within a 12-month period,” the State Department says.
Kuo, an energy trading firm in Singapore, and FAL, an energy trader based in the United Arab Emirates, both provided refined petroleum products to Iran worth over $25 million and $70 million, respectively.
The sanctions announced Thursday will only apply to each individual company and not to their governments or countries, the State Department says.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio