USA imposes Iran Sanction Act on Syrian State-run Oil Company

Washington: The United States of America has put sanctions on a Syrian State Oil Company for doing business with Iran, a country which is already facing sanctions by the US congress over the political differences emanating from
its stand on developing its nuclear program.

Sharing details of the decision that confirmed placement of the sanctions, the USA department of state said, “Today, the Administration imposed sanctions on the Syrian state-run oil company Sytrol under the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA),
as amended by the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act (CISADA), for conducting business with Iran’s energy sector. The United States remains deeply concerned about the close ties shared by the Iranian and Syrian regimes and is
committed to using every tool available to prevent regional destabilization.”

While telling reason of these sanctions, the State Department said that the trade volume in the energy sector product was well beyond its threshold. The statement of the state department noted, “In April of this year, Syria and
Iran engaged in two-way trade in the energy sector, in which Syria sent 33,000 metric tons of gasoline to Iran. The United States has determined that the value of the gasoline delivered by Sytrol to Iran in April was over $36 million, significantly exceeding
the monetary thresholds for triggering sanctions under this law ($1 million threshold for individual transactions and the $5 million threshold for multiple transactions within a twelve-month period under U.S. law). This kind of trade allows Iran to continue
developing its nuclear program while providing the Syrian government with resources to oppress its own people.”

While trying to justify its sanctions, the USA also alleged Iran of providing support to Assad’s regime which is fast losing support among the Syrian people. The statement said, “Though these sanctions are a direct result of Syria’s
provision of gasoline to Iran, the United States views Iran’s broader support for the Assad regime as completely unjustifiable. Iran is actively advising, supplying, and assisting the Syrian security forces and regime-backed militias that are carrying out
gross human rights abuses against the Syrian people. Iran is also providing the Assad regime with equipment to monitor opposition activity on the Internet. Iranian officials have boasted about Iran’s support to Assad. Iran’s actions in Syria underscore its
fear of losing its only remaining ally in the Middle East and an important conduit to Hizballah.”

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Posted by Fayyaz Yaseen on Aug 11 2012. Filed under Middle East, USA, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry