Iran’s petrochemical ambitions in tatters after new wave of US sanctions

In targeting Iran’s largest petrochemical entity with new sanctions, the Trump administration is attempting to stem one of Tehran’s vital non-oil sources of revenue, a significant step as the Gulf country recently has been boosting its sales of petrochemical products to compensate for plunging crude exports. The sanctions slapped on the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC) preceded the US administration’s move to impose sanctions on Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, as Washington endeavours to further cripple Tehran’s economy. The US Treasury Department announced on June 7 that it was placing sanctions on PGPIC, Iran’s largest petrochemical holding group, and 39 of its subsidiaries as well as foreign-based sales agents for providing financial aid to Khatam al-Anbiya, the engineering arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Treasury Department cautioned international companies that they “will themselves be exposed to US sanctions” should they continue to partner with PGPIC, its subsidiaries and foreign agents. According to the department, PGPIC has awarded contracts to Khatam al-Anbiya “generating hundreds of millions of dollars for an IRGC economic conglomerate that stretches across Iran’s major industries.