US Sanctions Over 50 Entities For Aiding Iran’s Oil Trade, Indian Nationals Included

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions against over 50 individuals, entities and ships for facilitating Iran’s energy trade, claiming to cut off funding from Iran’s alleged terrorist activities. The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)’s sanctions also included three Indian nationals involved in sales and shipment of Iranian oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

The department said that these actors have collectively enabled the export of billions of dollars' worth of petroleum and petroleum products, providing critical revenue to the Iranian regime. 

"The Treasury Department is degrading Iran's cash flow by dismantling key elements of Iran's energy export machine," said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. "Under President Trump, this administration is disrupting the regime's ability to fund terrorist groups that threaten the United States."

Indian nationals Varun Pula, Soniya Shrestha, and Iyappan Raja have been sanctioned under Executive Order 13902  for allegedly acting "directly or indirectly" on behalf of shipping firms moving Iranian petroleum products.

The department’s release highlights that Varun Pula owns Bertha Shipping Inc., a Marshall Islands-based firm operating the Comoros-flagged vessel PAMIR (IMO 9208239), which carried approximately four million barrels of Iranian LPG to China since July 2024.

Iyappan Raja owns Evie Lines Inc., also based in the Marshall Islands, which operates the Panama-flagged SAPPHIRE GAS (IMO 9320738) This vessel has also allegedly transported over a million barrels of LPG to China since April 2025.

The Treasury Department noted that Soniya Shrestha owns India-based Vega Star Ship Management Private Limited, which operates the Comoros-flagged NEPTA (IMO 9013701).  This vessel has moved Iranian-origin LPG to Pakistan since January 2025.

The US alleged them to be front companies and operating as “shadow fleets’ moving hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian LPG and crude oil. According to the release, the sanctions all property and interests of the designated individuals and entities within the United States, or controlled by US persons, have been frozen.