Indian company among dozen sanctioned by US for illicitly carrying Iranian oil
Washington, Oct 12: An Indian shipping firm is among the dozen-odd companies sanctioned by the US for allegedly carrying Iranian oil for sale to buyers in Asia days after slapping restrictions targetting Iran's energy trade for its October 1 attack on Israel.
Gabbaro Ship Services, the India-based company, was involved in the transport of Iranian petroleum as the technical manager of crude oil tanker Hornet and knowingly engaged in a significant transaction for the transport of petroleum from Iran as part of a 'Ghost Fleet', the State Department alleged.
The latest American sanctions against several companies across the world comes in response to Iran's October 1 ballistic missile attack against Israel.
“This attack targeted Israel’s most populated city, Tel Aviv, and could have killed hundreds if not thousands of innocent people,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.
Following that attack, the US had made it clear that Iran would face severe consequences, he said, and added, the Departments of the Treasury and State on Friday announced the “new and significant measures to more effectively target Iran’s energy trade.”
“The new designations today also include measures against the 'Ghost Fleet' that carries Iran’s illicit oil to buyers around the world. These measures will help further deny Iran financial resources used to support its missile programmes and provide support for terrorist groups that threaten the United States, its allies, and partners,” Sullivan said.
The Treasury claimed Iran’s oil exports are enabled by a network of illicit shipping facilitators in multiple jurisdictions which, “through obfuscation and deception,” load and transport Iranian oil for sale to buyers in Asia.
Prominent among them include United Arab Emirates-based Max Maritime Solutions FZE (Max Maritime), which used vessels under its management to conduct multiple ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil with vessels affiliated with the US-designated National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), it alleged.
The NITC moves Iranian oil for National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to transport it to refineries in the China.
Among the companies sanctions by the State Department are Suriname-based Strong Roots Provider NV, Glazing Future Management NV, Engen Management NV; India-based Gabbaro Ship Services Pvt Ltd; Malaysia-based Alya Marine Sendirian Berhad, and Hong Kong-based Celia Armas Ltd.
Secretary of the Treasury Janet L Yellen said, “Today’s sanctions target Iranian efforts to channel revenues from its energy industry to finance deadly and disruptive activity with dangerous consequences for the region and the world.
Yellen described deadly and disruptive activity as those including development of Iran's nuclear programme, the proliferation of ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, and support to regional terrorist proxies. “We will not hesitate to take further action to hold Iran accountable,” she said.
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Bengal MLA Humayun Kabir floats new party days after laying foundation for Babri-style mosque
Beldanga (WB), Dec 22 (PTI): West Bengal MLA Humayun Kabir on Monday floated a new outfit, Janata Unnayan Party, days after he was suspended by the TMC for laying the foundation stone for a Babri-style mosque in Murshidabad district.
Addressing a public meeting in Beladanga, Kabir named eight candidates that his new party will field in the 2026 assembly elections in the state.
Kabir, the MLA of Bharatpur, said he would contest the assembly polls from two seats, Rejinagar and Beldanga in Murshidabad.
"We can only tell you later how many seats we will be finally contesting," he told the gathering.
Kabir said his mission is to oust Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from power in the assembly polls, which will be due in less than six months.
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"Mamata Banerjee is no longer the same person I knew. She is beyond the reach of the common man," he alleged.
The BJP alleged Kabir was working to help the TMC return to power.
"Kabir will not be a factor in the next assembly polls. He will face the drubbing of the electorate along with his old friend TMC, with which he is still in touch in a clandestine manner. Both Kabir and his new party will be rejected by the people of Bengal," state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya claimed.
He claimed Kabir was attempting to split "BJP votes" in the assembly polls.
"In the wake of the situation in Bangladesh, people of Bengal will thwart Kabir's attempts and elect a strong nationalist force like the BJP, only which can defeat fundamentalists," he claimed.
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The TMC is yet to comment on Kabir's new party.
The TMC had suspended Kabir on December 4 after his announcement to build a Babri-style mosque triggered a massive row.
On December 6, the day the Babri Masjid was razed in Ayodhya in 1992, a defiant Kabir laid the foundation stone for the mosque at Rejinagar.
Kabir has had a tryst with most of the major political parties in the state over the last 10 years.
In 2015, he was "expelled" by the TMC for six years for criticising the CM and alleging that she was trying to make her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, the "king".
He contested the 2016 assembly elections as an Independent from the Rejinagar seat, but lost to Congress candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhury. He subsequently joined the Congress, which then had a huge presence in the district, but switched to the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP fielded him as its candidate in the Murshidabad Lok Sabha seat, and managed to secure the third spot after the TMC and Congress nominees. He then returned to the TMC and, in 2021, became the MLA of Bharatpur.
