Singaporean shipbroking firm added to Washington’s blacklist over ties to Iran

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department has blacklisted an Indian national and the Singaporean shipbroking firm he runs in the latest swathe of Iranian-linked sanctions announced yesterday.

Captain Murtuza Basrai, who runs Strait Shipbrokers in the Southeast Asian republic, finds himself among a host of Iranians and Chinese sanctioned by Washington DC.

“The Iranian regime benefits from a global network of entities facilitating the Iranian petrochemical sector,” tyreasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said yesterday, adding: “The United States remains committed to targeting any revenue source the Iranian regime uses to fund terrorist groups and oppress the Iranian people.”

Strait Shipbrokers was founded 15 years ago primarily focusing on tanker chartering. Basrai, who worked at Executive Ship Management and served at sea prior to entering broking, serves as the company’s managing director.

On Monday, the US Treasury Department also imposed sanctions against the Iranian oil sector including the oil ministry, oil minister, and the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC).