Iran oil: US slaps sanctions on 5 UAE-based companies

Washington on Thursday imposed sanctions on five United Arab Emirates-based companies, accusing them of having collectively purchased in 2019 hundreds of thousands of metric tons of petroleum products from Iran.

The US Treasury Department said the blacklisted companies – Petro Grand, Alphabet International DMCC, Swissol Trade, Alam Althrwa General Trading and Alwaneo – purchased the petroleum products in 2019 from the National Iranian Oil Company for delivery to the UAE.

The announcement followed the blacklisting of Chinese and South African companies earlier this week over Iran oil trade.

The Treasury’s statement also seemed a further indication the US would not ease its campaign of choking off Tehran’s ability to export oil, despite appeals from China and others that it do so on humanitarian grounds because of the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters said.