The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement on Friday said that the new sanctions will apply to the Persian Gulf Petrochemicals Industries Company and dozens of its subsidiaries and sales agents.
In the statement, the U.S. Treasury Department claimed that the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC) indirectly supports the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and accounts for 50% of Iran’s petrochemical exports.
The Treasury Department said that sanctions are aimed to choke off financing for Iran’s largest and most profitable petrochemical group.
The Treasury said it had also sanctioned the PGPIC holding group’s network of 39 subsidiary petrochemical companies and foreign-based sales agents. PGPIC and its units have 40% of Iran’s petrochemical production capacity and account for 50% of Iran’s petrochemical exports, it said.
"This action is a warning that we will continue to target holding groups and companies in the petrochemical sector and elsewhere that provide financial lifelines to the IRGC," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.
"By targeting this network we intend to deny funding to key elements of Iran’s petrochemical sector that provide support to the IRGC," he added.