U.S. sanctions were levied against Iranian national Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh, a liquefied petroleum gas magnate, and his corporate network, the Treasury Department said in a statement April 22, 2025. (U.S. Treasury Department)
An Iranian gas mogul this week became the latest target of American sanctions against Tehran’s petroleum networks, which U.S. officials say generate vast revenue for funding attacks by Middle East militants.
Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh was named Tuesday in a Treasury Department statement, which said he oversees an expansive set of liquefied petroleum gas operations based in Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
“The United States remains committed to holding accountable those who seek to provide the Iranian regime with the funding it needs to further its destabilizing activities in the region and around the world,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement.
Gas and oil operations help bankroll Iran’s nuclear weapons program as well as groups like the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah, the statement said.
The sanctions are part of the White House’s effort to exert economic pressure on Iran amid ongoing American strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. The campaign has been underway for more than a month.
Emamjomeh and a company he used to own, Pearl Petrochemical FZE, conducted tens of billions of dollars in business on behalf of a company that the U.S. had previously sanctioned for financially supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the statement.
Nine other Iranian companies are owned or controlled by Emamjomeh, the Treasury Department said.
In 2024, a ship in Emamjomeh’s network unsuccessfully tried to load cargo off the coast of Houston and transport it to China, the statement said.
The sanctions announced Tuesday add to a list of entities that includes the International Bank of Yemen, which the U.S. says is supporting the Houthis, and the petroleum shipping operations of an Indian man based in the United Arab Emirates.
The U.S. also recently designated a China-based refinery that it says played a role in purchasing more than $1 billion worth of Iranian crude oil from an Iranian front company.
Meanwhile, diplomatic negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program are progressing. Steve Witkoff, the Middle East envoy, is reportedly preparing for a third round of talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later this week.
