View original document

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

9/21/2020

Treasury Sanctions Companies for Enabling the Shipment and Sale of Iranian Petrochemicals | U.S. Department of the…

Treasury Sanctions Companies for Enabling the Shipment and
Sale of Iranian Petrochemicals
September 3, 2020

Treasury Designates Front Companies of Triliance Petrochemical and Zagros Petrochemical
Washington – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s O ice of Foreign Assets Control
(OFAC) designated six entities for their support to Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (Triliance),
an entity designated by Treasury in January 2020, and related activities. These entities, based
in Iran, UAE, and China, support Triliance’s continued involvement in the sale of Iranian
petrochemical products, including e orts by Triliance to hide or otherwise obscure its
involvement in sales contracts. Iranian petrochemical sales remain a key revenue source for
the Iranian regime, helping to finance its destabilizing support to corrupt regimes and
terrorist groups throughout the Middle East and, more recently, Venezuela.
Additionally, the Department of State imposed today sanctions on five entities for knowingly
engaging in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or
marketing of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran. The Department of State also
sanctioned three individuals who are principal executive o icers of the sanctioned entities.
“The Iranian regime uses revenue from petrochemical sales to continue its financing of
terrorism and destabilizing foreign agenda,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “The
Trump administration remains committed to targeting those contributing to Iran’s attempts
to evade U.S. sanctions by facilitating the illicit sale of Iranian petroleum products around
the world.”
These entities are being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(iii)(B) of Executive Order
(E.O.) 13846.

B ACKGROUND
In January 2020, OFAC sanctioned Triliance and three other petrochemical and petroleum
companies that have collectively transferred the equivalent of hundreds of millions of
dollars’ worth of exports from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), which helps to
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1114

1/3

9/21/2020

Treasury Sanctions Companies for Enabling the Shipment and Sale of Iranian Petrochemicals | U.S. Department of the…

finance Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and its terrorist
proxies. Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical industries are major sources of revenue for the
Iranian regime and fund its malign activities throughout the Middle East. Triliance has used
various front companies to purchase, or facilitate the purchase and movement of,
petrochemical products from Iran, and the entities targeted today help facilitate Iran’s
petrochemical and petroleum exports in contravention of U.S. economic sanctions.

SANCTIONS EVASION
In March 2020, Iranian company Zagros Petrochemical Company (Zagros) agreed to sell
Triliance hundreds of thousands of metric tons of Iranian petrochemicals during the year
2020. Triliance used Petrotech FZE (Petrotech), a UAE-based entity, as a purchaser of the
petrochemical products it purchased from Zagros. Triliance used Petrotech to hide its
involvement in petrochemical deals, including directing other companies to bill to Petrotech
rather than Triliance. Petrotech has purchased tens of thousands of tons of petrochemicals
from Zagros on behalf of Triliance.
Triliance uses numerous other companies to hide its involvement in petrochemical sales.
Triliance used UAE-based Trio Energy DMCC (Trio Energy) to broker the sales of tens of
thousands of metric tons of petroleum products, using Trio Energy accounts to settle fees
owed by Triliance. Likewise, Triliance used Jingho Technology Co. Limited and Dynapex
Energy Limited, both Chinese entities based in Hong Kong, to facilitate the shipment and
resale of tens of thousands of metric tons of petrochemical products worth millions of
dollars to an Asian country.
OFAC is also designating Dinrin Limited (Dinrin), a Chinese entity based in Hong Kong used by
Zagros to hide its involvement in petrochemical sales to Triliance. Dinrin helped process
millions of dollars in proceeds of Zagros’ sale of petroleum products to companies in Asia,
including being the beneficiary of a multi-million dollar payment made for a shipment of a
petroleum product that Zagros sold to Petrotech.
Zagros Petrochemical Company, Petrotech FZE, Jingho Technology Co. Limited, Dynapex
Energy Limited, and Trio Energy DMCC are being designated, pursuant to section 1(a)(iii)(B) of
E.O. 13846, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or
technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Triliance. Dinrin Limited is
being designated, pursuant to section 1(a)(iii)(B) of E.O. 13846, for having materially assisted,

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1114

2/3

9/21/2020

Treasury Sanctions Companies for Enabling the Shipment and Sale of Iranian Petrochemicals | U.S. Department of the…

sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services
to or in support of, Zagros.

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
All property and interests in property of these persons designated today subject to U.S.
jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S persons are generally prohibited from engaging in
transactions with them. In addition, foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate
significant transactions for, or persons that provide material or certain other support to, the
persons designated today risk exposure to sanctions that could sever their access to the U.S.
financial system or block their property and interests in property under U.S. jurisdiction.
View identifying information on the entities designated today.
###

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1114

3/3