The United States continues to apply pressure on the Iranian regime.
In June, the State Department designated the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, known as IRISL, and IRISL’s Shanghai-based subsidiary E-Sail Shipping Company LTD for their proliferation-related conduct. The State Department warned that any stakeholder who continued doing business with IRISL or E-Sail was at risk of sanctions.
As Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made clear on October 21, that risk has now become a reality:
“This week we made good on our promise made in June when we said we would sanction commercial entities doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran regime and their shipping lines. Six entities and two individuals have now been designated. It’s a warning to anyone doing business with this company.”
The six entities are the Reach Holding Group (Shanghai) Company Ltd; Reach Shipping Lines; Delight Shipping Co. Ltd; Gracious Shipping Co. Ltd; Noble Shipping Co.Ltd; and Supreme Shipping Co. Ltd.
Eric Chen, also known as Chen Guoping, Chief Executive Officer of Reach Holding Group (Shanghai) Co. Ltd and the company’s president, Daniel He, aka He Yi, were the two individuals sanctioned.
These newest sanctions were imposed a month after virtually all UN sanctions on Iran, including the UN arms embargo, were restored, after the United States initiated their restoration under Security Council Resolution 2231.
Following that move, Secretary of State Pompeo noted, “The United States is prepared to use its domestic authorities to sanction any individual or entity that materially contributes to the supply, sale, or transfer of conventional arms to or from Iran.”
The U.S. message is simple, said Secretary Pompeo:
“The United States will never allow the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism to freely buy and sell planes, tanks, missiles and other kinds of conventional weapons.”
Iran is also back under sanctions for ballistic missile testing and for ongoing nuclear activities, like uranium enrichment, that could be applied to a nuclear weapons program.
In a recent statement, Secretary Pompeo declared that the Iranian regime has a choice: “it can pursue the purchase of weapons in violation of UN sanctions measures, or the regime can use its funds to provide for the Iranian people. . .We stand with the Iranian people against tyranny, the squandering of their resources, and the regime’s efforts to crush their struggle for freedom.”
