As part of its continued pressure campaign on Iran, the United States has imposed sanctions on nine Indian companies and eight Indian nationals, accusing them of being involved in the trade of Iranian oil, petroleum products, and petrochemicals.

The announcement came on Thursday as the US State Department revealed sanctions on around 40 individuals, companies, and vessels linked to the Iranian petroleum trade. At the same time, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, blacklisted another 60 people, firms, and ships for helping move oil and liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, from Iran to other countries. Similar action has also been taken against some companies in China and the United Arab Emirates.

Among those listed are eight Indian trading firms dealing in chemicals and petrochemicals. They include Mumbai-based companies CJ Shah and Co, Chemovick, Mody Chem, Paarichem Resources, Indisol Marketing, Haresh Petrochem, and Shiv Texchem, along with Delhi-based BK Sales Corporation. The US said these firms collectively imported petrochemical products of Iranian origin worth hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years, even though such trade is banned under US sanctions.

The list also names five Indian nationals. They are Chemovick’s director Piyush Maganlal Javiya, Indisol Marketing director, Niti Unmesh Bhatt and Haresh Petrochem directors- Kamla Kasat, Kunal Kasat, and Poonam Kasat.

Three other Indian nationals have been sanctioned by OFAC for their alleged links with ships carrying Iranian LPG. They are Varun Pula, Iyappan Raja, and Soniya Shrestha. OFAC said Mumbai-based Vega Star Ship Management, owned by Soniya Shrestha, had been designated for operating a Comoros-flagged vessel named Nepta, which carried Iranian LPG to Pakistan.

According to OFAC, Pula owns Marshall Islands-based Bertha Shipping, which runs and manages the vessel Pamir. Since July 2024, this ship has moved nearly four million barrels of Iranian LPG to China. Raja owns another company, Evie Lines, also based in the Marshall Islands, which operates the Panama-flagged vessel Sapphire Gas. This ship, OFAC said, transported over one million barrels of Iranian LPG to China since April. The United States has now blocked these vessels from operation.

“As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 per cent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked,” OFAC said in its statement.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “The Treasury Department is degrading Iran’s cash flow by dismantling key elements of Iran’s energy export machine. Under President Trump, this administration is disrupting the regime’s ability to fund terrorist groups that threaten the United States.”

OFAC explained that the sanctions targeted a network that has been moving hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian LPG, supported by around two dozen ships, a Chinese crude oil terminal, and a refinery in China. These are described as “key to Iran’s ability to export petroleum and petroleum products to generate significant revenue”.

“The Iranian regime continues to fuel conflict in the Middle East and fund its destabilising activities. This behaviour enables Iran’s ability to fund its nuclear program, support terrorist groups, and disrupt trade and freedom of navigation in waterways crucial to global prosperity and economic growth. The United States will continue to take action against the network of terminal operators, port agents, shippers, brokers, and service providers involved in the trade of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products, and petrochemical products,” the State Department said.

“Iran’s petrochemical industry and exports are a critical sector of the Iranian economy that has grown in recent years to generate billions of dollars in illicit funds for Iran’s destabilising activities. Like the regime’s illicit oil exports, Iranian petrochemical products are frequently transshipped through intermediaries in third countries to obfuscate their origin. Today’s action targets those intermediaries, as well as the buyers of Iranian petrochemical products,” it added.

The move is part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” strategy on Iran, which has already led to several rounds of sanctions on companies and individuals around the world. Indian entities have appeared in earlier lists as well. In July, eight Indian companies and five nationals were sanctioned for trading Iranian oil and petrochemicals and for alleged ties to a shipping network linked to Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, son of a senior Iranian political advisor.

Before this campaign, previous US administrations had also penalised Indian companies for similar activities. In October, Gabbaro Ship Services from India was sanctioned for allegedly transporting Iranian oil. Earlier, in August and September last year, three India-registered firms were sanctioned for their alleged role in moving liquefied natural gas from Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project, which is under US sanctions.

Most of the Indian firms named in these actions are small and relatively new companies, not large enterprises. While major Indian corporations have avoided any trade involving Iran’s oil and gas sector due to US restrictions, Washington’s latest actions show that a few smaller Indian traders have continued to operate in this space despite the risks.