The US Treasury’s top sanctions officials are in Singapore this week meeting with local shipping representatives as they look to clamp down on illicit Russian and Iranian crude shipments to Asia.
Brian Nelson, under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, and Neil MacBride, Treasury general counsel, are said to be looking to advance Washington’s efforts to combat funding for Iran and its proxies as well as evasion of its sanctions and export controls against Russia.
Since the beginning of this year, the US Treasury says it has taken several “significant actions” to combat and disrupt the illicit shipment of Iranian oil to buyers in East Asia, including shipments via ship-to-ship transfers in international waters near Singapore and Malaysia.
“In Singapore, the Treasury officials will … meet with business representatives from both the financial and maritime sectors to discuss compliance and enforcement efforts to reduce Russian revenue earned from oil sales and to protect industry from the risks of Russian and Russia-linked providers who have sacrificed quality and safety in their services,” the US Treasury said in a statement.
In Malaysia, Nelson and MacBride will “discuss US efforts to disrupt terrorist financing, including through fundraising for fraudulent charities and illicit oil sales, while ensuring that US sanctions and other financial measures do not impede the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza”, the US Treasury added.
In February 2023, the US sanctioned three firms in Singapore and Malaysia allegedly involved in facilitating the sale and shipment of petroleum and petrochemicals on behalf of a company with known connections to Iran.
Asia Fuel Pte and Unicious Energy Pte, both based in Singapore, and Sense Shipping and Trading of Malaysia were accused of doing business with Trilliance Petrochemical Co, which was sanctioned in 2020 for facilitating the sale of Iranian petroleum products from the National Iranian Oil Co.
“Iran is increasingly turning to buyers in East Asia to sell its petrochemical and petroleum products, in violation of US sanctions,” Nelson said in a statement at the time.
