The US Department of Treasury has announced new sanctions on Iran, following its retaliatory strikes on Israel, which will restrict the Iranian steel industry. Accordingly, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described below that are in the US or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked.
Along with drone companies, three subsidiaries of an Iranian automaker, 16 individuals and two entities, the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has included five companies in different regions in the sanctions list, which provide component materials for steel production to Iran’s Khuzestan Steel Company (KSC), one of the largest steel producers in the country, or which purchase KSC’s finished steel products. The Iranian metals sector generates several billion dollars in revenues per year, the majority of which comes from steel exports.
Dubai-based PSI DMMC, Germany-based Kara Industrial Trading GmbH, UK-based Good Run Limited, Hong-Kong-based Magellanic Phoenix Marine and Trading Limited and Turkey-based HSF Dış Ticaret Limited Şirketi are the companies on which the US government has imposed sanctions.
PSI DMCC helps to source parts and materials needed for steel production from foreign suppliers on behalf of KSC, and also facilitates steel exports on behalf of KSC, while Kara Industrial Trading GmbH has purchased several tens of millions of dollars’ worth of steel from KSC and is selling KSC the equivalent in raw materials for use in steel production. In the meantime, Good Run Limited has sold critical components, including electrodes, to KSC for use in steel production. Magellanic Phoenix Marine and Trading Limited has purchased several tens of millions of dollars’ worth of steel products, including steel slab, from KSC since 2022, while HSF Dış Ticaret Limited Şirketi has purchased several tens of millions of dollars’ worth of steel products from KSC.
As a result, all the abovementioned companies have been determined to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, KSC.