Why were 4 Indian firms sanctioned by US over Iranian imports?
Sanctions imposed on 4 firms along with 3 individuals for engaging in significant transactions involving purchase, acquisition, sale, transport or marketing of Iranian petrochemical products
The US, as part of its ‘Operation Economic Outcast’, meant to block all potential sources of revenue for Iran, has sanctioned four India-based companies for importing petroleum and petrochemical products from the Middle Eastern country.
Which are the firms?
The India-based firms are Portease Partners LLP and its partners Indrismiya Ashrafmiya Sheikh and Harish Ramachandra Rangi, Sadashiva Overseas Limited, PP Softtech Private Limited and Prakrutees Infra Impex Private Limited. Prashant Garg, the director of PP Softtech, has also been sanctioned.
Why were they singled out?
The US State Department and Treasury in a press release on Monday (August 24) said Portease Partners had engaged in significant transactions involving the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport or marketing of Iranian petrochemical products.
The department has accused Sadashiva Overseas Limited of importing Iranian-origin petroleum products worth around $69 million from multiple companies between February 2024 and June 2025.
Also read: US sanctions four India-based companies over Iran oil imports
“SADASHIVA OVERSEAS is being designated pursuant to section 3(a)(ii) of E.O.13846 for knowingly engaging in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport or marketing of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran,” the department said in its statement.
Similarly, PP Softtech Private Limited is accused of importing about $25 million in Iranian-origin petroleum products between January 2024 and June 2025.
Prakrutees Infra Impex Private Limited also reportedly imported around $25 million of petroleum products from Iran between May 2023 and February 2026, the release said.
About the companies
It is interesting to note that Garg is the managing director of both PP Softech and Sadashiva Overseas.
The targeted companies are not major publicly-listed conglomerates but rather mid-sized private traders/importers.
Three of them – Sadashiva, PP Softtech, and Prakrutees – deal in the trade and import of bitumen and related petroleum products for India’s road infrastructure sector.
Also read: Trump's new economic squeeze on Iran has big challenge: China
According to the ratings agency, Infomerics Ratings, Sadashiva, a Delhi-based company, primarily deals with the production, trading and export of basmati and non-basmati rice besides trading in bitumen, and is recognised as a three-star export house by the Indian government. It has markets in the UAE, Iran, and Africa, among others.
PP Softech mainly deals in the import and supply of bitumen, fuel oil, and base oil for infrastructure or road construction. It also handles agricultural exports, leases storage tanks at major ports, and operates or charters vessels for bulk transport. According to an article in Maritime Gateway, in 2025, the company surpassed Rs 1,000 crore in turnover without any external funding, solidifying its position as India’s second-largest bitumen importer.
Headquartered in Karwar, Uttara Kannada, Karnataka, Prakrutees, a part of Prakruti Group, mainly deals with the import, storage, supply and sale of bitumen for road construction.
Also read: Iran war: How India is navigating the energy crisis
While little data is available to show Portease Partners trading in petroleum and petrochemical products as accused by the US, the Company Check website identifies it as a limited liability partnership company based in Gujarat.
What is Op Economic Outcast?
The measures are part of the US’s Operation Economic Outcast, which US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, while announcing on Monday, described as an “unprecedented” US campaign to sever Iran from the global economy.
He warned that any country doing business with Iran faces the risk of US sanctions. He also said that any country that facilitates money laundering from Iran will be removed from the US dollar system.
Soon after Bessent’s announcement, the US, under Operation Economic Outcast, imposed sanctions on around 60 entities, individuals and vessels, accusing them of being linked to Iran’s military activities, procurement networks, and petroleum and petrochemical trade.
Also read: Iran’s new security chief warns neighbours against joining US ‘economic war’
“Today’s action targets all the nodes of this illicit trade, and promotes accountability for the buyers, sellers, intermediaries, and service providers that help facilitate Iran’s destabilising activities,” the State Department said after announcing the sanctions.
Not just Indian companies, the US has also sanctioned entities in Turkey, Hong Kong and Iran for the import, export and trading of Iranian-origin petroleum and petrochemical products.