US imposes new sanctions on companies and individuals aiding Iran-China oil shipments

WASHINGTON — The US government on Monday announced sanctions against individuals and companies in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman for assisting Iran in shipping oil to China. The move is part of a broader effort to apply pressure on Tehran and disrupt its financial networks, and comes after the US Treasury announced sanctions on Friday on individuals and companies aiding Iranian purchases of weapons and components used to make drones and ballistic missiles. It comes days before US President Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Xi Jinping, where he is expected to press the Chinese leader to help resolve the standoff with Iran and reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz. The US Treasury said the new designations by the Office ⁠of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) were aimed at individuals and entities that helped Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sell and ship its allotment of Iranian oil to China using a series of front companies. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration would keep using sanctions to deprive the Iranian government and military of funding for weapons, its nuclear program or support for proxies in the region. “Treasury will continue to cut the Iranian regime off from the financial networks it uses to carry out terrorist acts and to destabilize the global economy,” Bessent said. The State Department also announced a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of the IRGC, which is designated by Washington as a terrorist organization, and its branches. The Treasury ‌said ⁠the IRGC relies on shell companies to arrange and receive payment for its allotment of Iranian oil shipments. It said Monday’s action builds on sanctions imposed in July 2025 on Golden Globe, a Turkey-based company that the Treasury said handles hundreds of millions of dollars in IRGC oil sales annually. The three people sanctioned by the United States work for the IRGC’s Shahid Purja’fari oil headquarters, coordinating payments through Golden Globe, the Treasury said.