US sanctions Indian national allegedly linked to Iranian oil

Jugwinder Singh Brar, who is based in the United Arab Emirates, owns multiple shipping companies that have transported Tehran’s crude on behalf of the National Iranian Oil Co. and the Iranian military. Bloomberg

The US is sanctioning an Indian national and his fleet of nearly 30 vessels for allegedly transporting Iranian oil, just days before officials from the US and Iran are set to meet for nuclear talks.

Jugwinder Singh Brar, who is based in the United Arab Emirates, owns multiple shipping companies that have transported Tehran’s crude on behalf of the National Iranian Oil Co. and the Iranian military, the Treasury Department said in a statement Thursday. His vessels also have engaged in ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian petroleum in waters off Iraq, Iran, the UAE and the Gulf of Oman, as well as coordinated with Houthi officials to evade sanctions, the department said.

“The Iranian regime relies on its network of unscrupulous shippers and brokers like Brar and his companies to enable its oil sales and finance its destabilizing activities,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent in the statement.

The Treasury’s actions also cover two United Arab Emirates and two India-based entities that allegedly own and operate Brar’s vessels. They include United Arab Emirates-based Prime Tankers LLC and Glory International, as well as the India-based Global Tankers Private Limited and B and P Solutions Private Limited.

Emails to the companies and a phone call to Prime Tankers to reach Brar went unanswered outside normal local business hours.

Since the Trump administration took office in January, it has issued several waves of Iranian oil sanctions as part of Trump’s “maximum” pressure campaign to drive Tehran’s crude exports to China to zero.