2 min readAug 26, 2026 10:29 PM IST
First published on: Aug 26, 2026 at 08:23 AM IST
The US has sanctioned four India-based companies for importing petroleum and petrochemical products from Iran, according to a US State Department statement.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced ‘Operation Economic Outcast’ on Monday (Aug 26), involving new sanctions that target Iran’s financial lifelines, and also warned its trade partners of possible penalties.
Describing it as an unprecedented push to choke off Tehran’s finances, Bessent noted that the strategy broadens the risk of secondary sanctions, increasing the penalties for any nation, company, or group that maintains business ties with Tehran.
Four companies facing brunt of US’ Iran sanctions
The four “India-based companies” facing sanctions are customs broker, Portease Partners LLP, and its partners, Indrismiya Ashrafmiya Sheikh and Harish Ramachandra Rangi.
They facilitated the import of multiple shipments of Iranian petrochemical products to India, the State Department said in the release on Monday (Aug 24).
“PORTEASE is being designated pursuant to section 3(a)(iii) of E.O. 13846 for, on or after November 5, 2018, knowingly engaging in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of petrochemical products from Iran,” the State Department said.
The other Indian firms facing US action include Sadashiva Overseas Limited; PP Softtech Private Limited, along with its director Prashant Garg; and Prakrutees Infra Impex Private Limited.
Sheikh, Rangi and Garg are Indian nationals, the release stated.
It said that Sadashiva Overseas imported Iranian-origin petroleum products worth around $119 million, prompting action under its Iran sanctions campaign.
The companies were listed “knowingly engaging in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran.”
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, on Monday, in a statement, said, “Today, the United States took sweeping action against multiple entities, individuals, and vessels enabling the Iranian regime’s destabilising activities.”
“Such activities include attacks against US forces and allies in the region, illicit weapons procurement, cyber intrusions into American infrastructure, and the movement of energy products whose sale funds terrorism globally,” he added.
US President Donald Trump 
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