Amid nuke talks, US hits Iran with sanctions on major gas trader

Blocking access to Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh’s network will prevent Tehran from receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Tehran reacted angrily on Tuesday after the US government sanctioned one of Iran’s largest energy magnates as part of the Trump administration’s financial campaign against the Islamic Republic.

“The new sanctions are illegal, contradict America’s claims of dialogue and negotiations, and prove its lack of seriousness,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated.

The US is supposed to hold a third round of talks with Iran towards a new nuclear deal on Saturday, which may now be in danger of cancellation, although the statement did not say so outright.

“The American sanctions are evidence of Washington’s hostile attitude towards our people and its disregard for the law and human rights,” the ministry added for the record.

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had “designated” Iranian national and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) magnate Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh, his son Meisam and his corporate network. This blocks their US assets and prohibits Americans from any business dealings with them and their properties.

“Emamjomeh and his network sought to export thousands of shipments of LPG (liquified petroleum gas) — including from the United States — to evade U.S. sanctions and generate revenue for Iran,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent in announcing the sanctions.

“The United States remains committed to holding accountable those who seek to provide the Iranian regime with the funding it needs to further its destabilizing activities in the region and around the world,” he continued.

Emamjomeh’s many companies collectively ship hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian LPG and crude oil to foreign markets, so it is expected that putting them on the sanctions list will severely harm Iran’s coffers.

“This action,” the statement further explained, “is in furtherance of Treasury’s implementation of National Security Presidential Memorandum 2, instituting a campaign of maximum economic pressure on Iran.”

The US and Iran have held two rounds of negotiations in the last 11 days on the sensitive issue of Tehran’s nuclear program, one in the Omani capital of Muscat and one in Rome.

The next set of discussions is supposed to include technical experts, a sign that some analysts say shows that progress is being made quickly.

“If [US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve] Witkoff was making maximalist demands during his talks with [Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas] Araghchi, such as dismantlement of the enrichment program, Iran would have no incentive to meet at the technical level,” Arms Control Association Director for Nonproliferation Policy Kelsey Davenport explained to the AP news agency.

There is also no guarantee that the sides would agree on any specific numbers that experts discuss, such as the amount and levels of enriched uranium Tehran would be permitted to keep.

US President Donald Trump had warned before the sudden talks began that military action remains an option should Tehran refuse to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

He had also added that Israel would play a central role in any such response, something that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened many times, especially after Iran launched two waves of hundreds of missiles at Israel last year, almost all of which were shot down before reaching the Jewish state and killing no one.

OFACUS sanctions