Washington’s sanctions campaign of “maximum pressure on Iran” is intensifying, despite the start of initial discussions between the U.S. and Iran over nuclear issues held in Oman on April 12, labeled as “positive” and “constructive,” which will lead to a follow-on meeting on April 19.
Yet another Iran sanctions package
The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued sanctions on April 10 against a sophisticated maritime network responsible for smuggling hundreds of millions of dollars of Iranian petroleum, targeting the UAE-based shipping magnate Jugwinder Singh Brar’s fleet of nearly 30 vessels, many of which constitute a sizeable part of Iran’s “shadow fleet.”
Operating through UAE-based companies Prime Tankers LLC and Glory International FZ-LLC, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) claimed that Brar’s network employed an intricate web of smaller “Handysize” tankers for coastal operations, conducting Ship-To-Ship (STS) transfers in waters off Iraq, Iran, the UAE, and the Gulf of Oman
In parallel, the U.S. Department of State simultaneously sanctioned on April 10 a Chinese petroleum terminal operator, along with two additional vessels, that feeds product to a co-called “teapot” refinery. It added another such “teapot” refinery to the U.S. sanctions list on April 16 (see below).
Details of the Treasury Department sanctions
The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated (sanctioned) United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Indian national Jugwinder Singh Brar who owns multiple shipping companies that operate a fleet of nearly 30 vessels. OFAC is also designating two UAE- and two India-based entities that own and operate Brar’s vessels that have transported Iranian oil on behalf of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and the Iranian military. Brar’s vessels engage in high-risk ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian petroleum in waters off Iraq, Iran, the UAE, as well as the Gulf of Oman. These cargoes then reach other facilitators who blend the oil or fuel with products from other countries and falsify shipping documents to conceal links to Iran, allowing these cargoes to reach the international market.
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said, “The Iranian regime relies on its network of unscrupulous shippers and brokers like Brar and his companies to enable its oil sales and finance its destabilizing activities.” He added, “The United States remains focused on disrupting all elements of Iran’s oil exports, particularly those who seek to profit from this trade.”
The Treasury Department action was taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13902, which targets Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sectors, and marks the fifth round of sanctions targeting Iranian oil sales since the President issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 2, ordering a campaign of maximum pressure on Iran.
OFAC is aggressively targeting Iran’s oil supply chain, including imposing sanctions on those enabling Iran’s export of its oil to key third countries and the wider international market. These shipments rely on an intricate and extensive web of shell companies, clandestine smuggling, STS transfers, oil storage and blending, and document falsification.
Brar is a ship captain and owner and director of UAE-based companies Prime Tankers LLC (Prime Tankers) and Glory International FZ-LLC (Glory International). Through his companies, Brar owns, operates, or manages a fleet of nearly 30 oil and petroleum product tankers, the majority of which are “Handysize” tankers that stick to coastal waters and carry a fraction of the cargo of larger tankers. Brar uses these smaller vessels for STS transfers to load Iranian oil from other “shadow fleet” vessels or to load oil or fuel that is smuggled from smaller commercial and fishing vessels. These operations can sometimes take days to complete due to the numerous transfers required to fill a single tanker.
In this fashion, Brar has coordinated with Houthi financial official Sa’id al-Jamal’s illicit shipping associates on sanctions evasion tactics, specifically the use of smaller vessels in lieu of large oil tankers to obfuscate Iranian oil smuggling in and around the Persian Gulf and Khor al Zubair, Iraq. In 2023, the Glory International-operated and managed NADIYA (IMO 9118745) smuggled Iranian oil on behalf of the Iranian military.
According to OFAC, Brar’s smaller vessels also help obfuscate the movement of Iranian cargoes through STS transfers with sanctioned vessels, often while their Automatic Identification System (AIS) is disabled or manipulated to make the vessels falsely appear to be elsewhere. Brar’s vessels have been observed following high-risk STS patterns on numerous occasions in the waters off Iraq’s Khor Al Zubair and Umm Qasr ports, and near Iran, the UAE, and the Gulf of Oman. At this point, facilitators blend the Iranian oil or fuel with products from other countries and falsify shipping documents to conceal links to Iran, allowing these cargoes to reach the international market via larger tankers.
In addition to his UAE-based businesses, Brar owns or controls India-based shipping company Global Tankers Private Limited (Global Tankers) and petrochemical sales company B and P Solutions Private Limited. Global Tankers is the owner or manager of a number of vessels in Brar’s fleet. Brar has likely also transported Iranian petroleum for his own personal profit because of its availability at lower prices due to the sanctions risk such cargoes carry. OFAC notes that many of Brar’s vessels that are known to have carried Iranian petroleum make frequent port calls at oil and gas terminals in India, including major ports located near two of B and P Solutions Private Limited’s branches.
OFAC designated Brar pursuant to E.O. 13902 for operating in the petroleum sector of the Iranian economy. Prime Tankers, Glory International, Global Tankers, and B and P Solutions Private Limited were designated pursuant to E.O. 13902 for being owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, Brar.
In multiple NIOC contracts signed throughout 2024 worth millions of dollars, Glory International-owned vessels GLOBAL BEAUTY (IMO 9221267) and GLOBAL EAGLE (IMO 9422847) were selected to provide fuel oil bunkering services to vessels in Iranian waters. OFAC designated NIOC on October 26, 2020, pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for providing material support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
State Department actions
Concurrently with OFAC’s actions, the U.S. Department of State designated four companies for having knowingly engaged in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran, and identified two vessels as blocked property of two of these companies, all of those pursuant to E.O. 13846.
The text of the State Department Department’s April 10 release outlining its new Iran sanctions follows:
Sanctions on Iran’s Oil Network to Further Impose Maximum Pressure on Iran
“The U.S. Department of State is today sanctioning a second China-based terminal operator, Guangsha Zhoushan Energy Group Co Ltd, which received at least eight Iranian crude oil cargos in the past several years. The Department of State is also designating three vessel management companies for their involvement in the transport of Iranian petroleum and identifying two vessels as blocked property of two of these companies.
The United States is committed to aggressively implementing and enforcing sanctions targeting Iran’s entire oil supply chain, including sanctioning those who help Iran evade sanctions and export Iranian oil to China.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of the Treasury is concurrently designating UAE- and India-based entities and blocking nearly 30 vessels involved in shipping Iranian oil.
Today’s action advances President Trump’s policy of maximum pressure to deny the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon and counter the regime’s malign influence. These sanctions will curtail the flow of revenue the Iranian regime uses to finance its destabilizing activities and are part of President Trump’s commitment to drive Iran’s export of oil to zero — especially oil exports to China.
We will continue to curb illicit funding that funds Iran’s malign activities, limit the financial resources available to corrupt regime officials, and use all the tools at our disposal to hold the regime accountable.
Today’s actions are being taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13846, which authorizes and reimposes certain sanctions with respect to Iran, and Executive Order (E.O.) 13902, which targets Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sectors, and marks the fifth round of sanctions targeting Iranian oil sales since the President issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 on February 4, 2025, ordering a campaign of maximum pressure on Iran.” Tammy Bruce, Department Spokesperson
Additional sanctions announced
On April 16, the United States sanctioned Shandong Shengxing Chemical Co., Ltd, another China-based independent “teapot” refinery, for purchasing more than a billion dollars’ worth of Iranian crude oil.
On April 22, OFAC designated Iranian national and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) magnate Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh and his corporate network, which is collectively responsible for shipping hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian LPG and crude oil to foreign markets. LPG continues to be a major source of revenue for the Iranian regime, the proceeds of which fund Iran’s nuclear and advanced conventional weapons programs, as well as regional proxy groups and partners such as Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Hamas. OFAC notes that Emamjomeh’s expansive network includes a vessel, the TINOS I, which intended but failed to load cargo in 2024 off the coast of Houston, Texas.
