US Sanctions China’s Hengli Group Over Purchases of Iranian Oil

The United States has added China’s major refining company Hengli Group to its sanctions list over imports of Iranian oil.

According to Yonhap, the U.S. Treasury and State departments said on April 24 (local time) they were sanctioning Hengli Group for buying Iranian oil. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Hengli is among the largest customers, purchasing Iranian oil worth tens of billions of dollars.

Treasury said it determined that Hengli and other Chinese refiners, by importing sanctioned Iranian oil, were providing economic support to Iran’s government, including Iran’s military.

Hengli is known to have refining facilities in the northeastern port city of Dalian with capacity to process about 400,000 barrels of crude oil a day.

Treasury also targeted a shipping network involved in transporting Iranian oil. It added about 40 shipping companies and vessels to the sanctions list for operating a “shadow fleet” that moves Iranian oil while evading sanctions.

Under the measures, U.S.-based assets of the designated companies and vessels will be frozen and property interests blocked. Entities in which they directly or indirectly own 50% or more are also covered. Sanctions may also be imposed on institutions that conduct transactions involving funds, goods or services with them.

Separately, Treasury said it froze $344 million worth of cryptocurrency believed to be linked to Iran.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on X that OFAC is imposing sanctions on “multiple wallets” tied to Iran, adding the action would “systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate and move funds back home.” He also said the department would track funds Tehran is “desperately” trying to move abroad and target all financial lifelines connected to the government.

CNN reported that the cryptocurrency freeze was carried out through Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, USDT, based on information provided by Treasury.