Indian nationals among over 50 entities sanctioned by US for aiding Iran’s energy trade

Washington: The US has sanctioned more than 50 entities, people and vessels including two Indian nationals for allegedly facilitating Iranian energy sales, in an attempt to dismantle "key elements" of Tehran's "energy export machine", according to an official statement. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the sanctions on Thursday. "These actors have collectively enabled the export of billions of dollars’ worth of petroleum and petroleum products, providing critical revenue to the Iranian regime and its support for terrorist groups that threaten the United States," the department said in a press release. The sanctions are part of the department's efforts to curb Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical exports. “The Treasury Department is degrading Iran’s cash flow by dismantling key elements of Iran’s energy export machine,” it said, quoting Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

The Indian nationals sanctioned include Varun Pula, who owns Marshall Islands-based Bertha Shipping Inc., which owns and operates Comoros-flagged vessel PAMIR. The vessel has transported nearly four million barrels of Iranian LPG to China since July 2024, according to the US statement. The other Indian national sanctioned is Soniya Shrestha, who owns Vega Star Ship Management Private Limited. The company owns and operates another Comoros-flagged vessel, NEPTA, which has transported Iranian-origin LPG to Pakistan since January 2025. The statement added that all "property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons" that are in the US or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. Any entities owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 per cent or more by one or more blocked persons also stand blocked.