Iran’s Oil, Tanker Firms Targeted for Sanctions
Iran’s national oil company and its oil-tanker fleet are the focus of sanctions measures that two U.S. lawmakers intend to submit to Congress aimed at blocking Iran’s ability to sell its crude internationally.
Representative Howard Berman, a California Democrat, and Senator Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, plan to file similar proposals today to compel the U.S. Treasury Department to investigate whether the National Iranian Oil Co. and the National Iranian Tanker Co. are owned or controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to congressional aides.
Such a determination by the Treasury would permit the U.S. to impose sanctions on foreign financial institutions that facilitate transactions for NIOC or NITC anywhere in the world, by shutting down or imposing strict conditions on the foreign institutions’ U.S. bank accounts, according to the aides who spoke on condition of anonymity since the legislation hasn’t been filed.