By: Express Web DeskUpdated: October 10, 2025 10:28 AM IST 2 min readTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, during an event with President Donald Trump. (AP Photo)The United States administration Thursday sanctioned more than 50 entities, people and vessels, including two Indian nationals, for allegedly facilitating Iranian energy sales, as part of efforts to dismantle “key elements” of Tehran’s “energy export machine,” the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in an official statement, PTI news agency reported.The sanctioned Indian nationals include Varun Pula, owner of Marshall Islands-based Bertha Shipping Inc., which operates the Comoros-flagged vessel PAMIR. According to the US statement, the vessel has transported nearly four million barrels of Iranian LPG to China since July 2024.The other individual, Soniya Shrestha, owns Vega Star Ship Management Pvt Ltd, which operates another Comoros-flagged vessel, NEPTA. The vessel has reportedly transported Iranian-origin LPG to Pakistan since January 2025.“These actors have collectively enabled the export of billions of dollars’ worth of petroleum and petroleum products, providing critical revenue to the Iranian regime and its support for terrorist groups that threaten the United States,” the OFAC said in a press release.The sanctions come amid the US’s efforts to curb Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical exports.“The Treasury Department is degrading Iran’s cash flow by dismantling key elements of Iran’s energy export machine,” it said, quoting Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.“Property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons” that are in the US or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC, the statement said. It further said that any entities owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 per cent or more by one or more blocked persons also stand blocked.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:Iran