WASHINGTON – The US government says it plans to crank up its unprecedented pressure on Iran by targeting shippers, port officials and insurance companies that help in storing Iranian oil.
The new measures are basically intended at curbing Iran’s oil flow to China which continues imports from the Middle Eastern country despite the unilateral US sanctions.
“We will target and designate anybody that stores Iranian oil, petrochemicals or refined petroleum in violation of US sanctions, no matter where they are,” David Peyman, the deputy assistant secretary of state for counter threat finance and sanctions, said on Monday.
Washington is resorting to some of the most unconventional ways which include seducing ship captains into taking photos and submitting them to the US government of anyone conducting ship-to-ship transfers – in other words turning them into virtual spies for the US government in international waters.
The Trump administration will soon issue advisories which will also warn shipping vessels against turning off tracking devices in an effort to avoid US sanctions on Iran, Peyman said.
“Transponders that provide the location of vessels should never be turned off. If they are, that presents a risk that requires heightened diligence,” Peyman told the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank that supports tough sanctions on Iran.
The US government is depicting its most draconian sanctions on Iranians as a service to them, saying their ultimate goal is to promote democracy.
On Monday, Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said US sanctions are hampering Tehran’s efforts to buy food and medicine at a time when the country is grappling with a coronavirus outbreak.
Zangeneh cast aspersions on the Trump administration’s claims that Iran’s imports of medicine and other humanitarian goods are exempt from the unilateral US sanctions. “It’s a big lie,” the minister told Bloomberg.
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