Treasury Increases Pressure on Chinese Importers of Iranian Oil

WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating a China-based independent “teapot” refinery Shandong Shengxing Chemical Co., Ltd. for its role in purchasing more than a billion dollars’ worth of Iranian crude oil, including from a front company for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). OFAC is also imposing additional sanctions on several companies and vessels responsible for facilitating Iranian oil shipments to China as part of Iran’s “shadow fleet.” “Any refinery, company, or broker that chooses to purchase Iranian oil or facilitate Iran’s oil trade places itself at serious risk,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.