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U.S. Sanctions Expansion Could Turn the Screws on Iran’s Petrochemical Sector

TradeWinds

The latest US sanctions could add pressure on Iran’s petrochemical sector, legal experts says.

The announcement by the US Treasury and State departments that the government would expand sanctions also signals that Washington is increasing its attention on Iran, Blank Rome lawyer Matthew Thomas said.

TradeWinds reported on Friday that the Biden administration announced an expansion of sanctions on Iran’s petroleum and petrochemicals sector, as it added 23 ships to its list of blocked vessels.

Thomas, a Washington DC-based lawyer who focuses on international trade and maritime regulation, told TradeWinds that the US government had already placed Iran’s petroleum sector under the umbrella of its sanctions regime.

But the situation is different for petrochemicals, which include cargoes carried by chemical and product tankers as well as LPG carriers.

“They might bring a little bit of new authority to the table when it comes to comes to petrochemicals,” Thomas said of the new sanctions. “It throws an industry-wide designation over that whole sector.”

Iran’s chemicals and LPG shipments have increasingly been on Washington’s radar.

Thomas said the biggest impact of the announcement was signaling that the Biden administration intends to continue ramping up sanctions on Iran by adding more and more companies and vessels to its sanctions blacklist.

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"U.S. Sanctions Expansion Could Turn the Screws on Iran’s Petrochemical Sector," by Eric Priante Martin was published in TradeWinds on October 16, 2024.