(Bloomberg) — The US sanctioned a Greek shipper and two Chinese port-terminal operators that it said facilitated the transport of Iranian oil, broadening a so-called maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.
Antonios Margaritis was designated, along with a web of companies overseen by him in Greece and the Marshall Islands, according to a Treasury Department statement on Thursday. Separately, the State Department blacklisted two Chinese terminal and storage operators, including one it said was in an area that’s “the largest entry point for Iranian crude oil into China”.
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The US has been stepping up action against Iran in a bid to throttle the nation’s overseas crude trade, which is a key source of revenue for Tehran. Still, the OPEC member has proved to be adept at circumventing the web of restrictions, with China a long-standing destination for shipments.
“Margaritis has leveraged his decades of experience in the shipping industry to illicitly facilitate the transportation and sale of Iranian petroleum,” the Treasury Department said. The sanctions targeted firms tied to Margaritis, including Marant Shipping and Trading S.A. as well as Square Tanker Management Ltd., Comford Management S.A. and United Chartering S.A.
The State Department blacklisted Qingdao Port Haiye Dongjiakou Oil Products Co., Ltd. and Yangshan Shengang International Petroleum Storage and Transportation Co., Ltd. The operators — one with berths in Shandong’s Qingdao, and the other in Yangshan, Zhejiang — had received Iranian crude sold by the National Iranian Oil Co., with cargoes arriving on US-sanctioned ships, it said.
The ports around Qingdao and Zhoushan, which abuts Yangshan, have emerged as major gateways for commodities. In particular, privately run terminals now act as major conduits for sanctioned crude, after a province-run port conglomerate warned earlier this year that Shandong terminals should stop accepting sanctioned tankers. Those in Qingdao took about 15.5 million barrels of Iranian crude in June, according to an estimate from Kpler.
Yangshan Shengang International did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Qingdao Port Haiye could not be reached by email or by phone.
The latest moves came weeks after Treasury’s biggest Iran sanctions action in seven years, which targeted a network overseen by oil tycoon Hossein Shamkhani, whose father is a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
