The US Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on the Chinese oil refinery Hengli Petrochemical and about 40 shipping companies and vessels of Iran's "shadow fleet".
This is stated in the text of a press release on the US Treasury website.
According to the US department, Chinese oil refineries play a key role in supporting Iran's economy. The Hengli plant is one of the largest buyers of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products. Its purchases are estimated at billions of dollars.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added 19 vessels of the shadow fleet and 19 related companies to the sanctions lists. They transported Iranian oil, liquefied gas and petrochemical products to Asia. The sanctioned entities are registered in Hong Kong, the UAE, China, Vietnam, Panama and other jurisdictions.
The Department of the Treasury added that the Hengli plant has been receiving oil with the assistance of a unit of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces since at least 2023. These transactions have brought hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to the Iranian military.
In total, since February 2025, the United States has imposed sanctions on more than a thousand individuals and entities, vessels and aircraft associated with Iran as part of its economic pressure campaign.
Bessent also reported that OFAC has imposed sanctions on a number of wallets associated with Iran, as a result of which USD 344 million in cryptocurrency was frozen.
"We will track funds that Tehran is trying to transfer abroad and target all financial sources associated with the regime," Bessent wrote.
"Operation Economic Fury is aimed at increasing financial pressure on the Iranian regime, limiting its activity in the Middle East, and deterring its nuclear program. At the direction of President Trump, the US Department of the Treasury plans to continue to increase pressure on the network of vessels, intermediaries, and buyers through which Iran supplies oil to world markets," Bessent stated.
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