By Maryam Manzoori | 2025-02-12

The United States has imposed sanctions on more than a dozen individuals, vessels and companies accused of shipping millions of barrels of Iranian oil to China to fund the military activities of the Iranian regime and its proxies.

The February 6 sanctions are part of a renewed "maximum pressure" campaign.

They target an international network that facilitated Iranian crude oil transfers worth hundreds of millions of dollars through entities and vessels in China, India and the United Arab Emirates, the US Treasury said.

The oil was shipped on behalf of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff and its sanctioned front company, Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars (Sepehr Energy).

"Proceeds of these sales support terrorist and proxy groups," US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.

The sanctions also target "shadow fleet" vessels and management companies that transported Iranian oil, aiding Iran’s ability to promote destabilizing activities in the region.

"The Iranian regime remains focused on leveraging its oil revenues to fund the development of its nuclear program," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

Oil revenues also fund the production of "its deadly ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, and to support its regional terrorist proxy groups."

The new sanctions aim to "disrupt illicit funding streams" financing Iranian armed forces and US-designated terrorist organizations in the region, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.

China connection

China has emerged as Tehran's economic lifeline, purchasing over $140 billion of Iranian oil since January 2021, according to a United Against Nuclear Iran study published in December.

The Iranian government's latest budget allocates 51% of projected daily oil and gas exports for military use, Iran Focus reported. Worth approximately $8.4 billion, this is more than four times the previous year's military funding.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has tightened its control over the country's oil industry, Reuters reported in December.

It manages up to half of Iran's oil exports through a clandestine fleet of tankers and shell companies selling primarily to Chinese buyers, the news agency said.

On February 4, US President Donald Trump restored a "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran, signing an executive order aimed at eliminating Iranian oil exports and preventing the regime from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Maintaining pressure is important to prevent the IRGC from "funding terrorism with the Iranian people's money," a dual national Iranian-Canadian banker based in Montreal told Pishtaz, on condition of anonymity.

"The regime has taken its people hostage, using force and suppression while spending their national resources on terrorism to guarantee its survival," a Tehran-based businessman with Spanish residency told Pishtaz.