US Sanctions Afghan Trader Over Role in Iranian Liquefied Gas Exports
The United States Treasury Department has announced sanctions against an Afghan trader named Sarbaz Abdulzada for his involvement in the export of Iranian liquefied gas and violating US sanctions. Along with this decision, several companies and oil tankers connected to him have also been subjected to financial restrictions.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) alleges that Abdulzada, together with Muhammad Shakoul Mahndust, a Turkish national also known as Haji Shakur, managed a network of shell companies in the United Arab Emirates. According to the agency, this network played a role in exporting millions of barrels of Iranian liquefied gas to countries in South and East Asia.
As part of these sanctions, multiple companies based in the UAE and China, as well as some shipping and tanker companies involved in transporting Iranian liquefied gas, have been added to the US blacklist. This move means that any assets these individuals and entities may have in the US are frozen, and American citizens are prohibited from dealing with them.
US officials have stated that these sanctions have been imposed due to activities in Iran’s oil and petroleum products sector and cooperation in the country’s energy exports. So far, no official response has been issued by the named individuals or the sanctioned companies.
