India's Adani to pay $275m settlement to US over Iran sanction violations

Dubai: India's Adani Enterprises agreed to pay $275 million to settle potential civil liability related to apparent violations of US sanctions on Iran tied to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports, the US Treasury Department said on Monday.

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The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the Indian conglomerate purchased LPG shipments between November 2023 and June 2025 from a Dubai-based trader that claimed to supply Omani and Iraqi-origin gas.

According to OFAC, “red flags should have put AEL on notice that the LPG actually originated from Iran.”

The Treasury Department said Adani Enterprises caused U.S. financial institutions to process 32 U.S. dollar-denominated payments totaling about $192.1 million linked to the shipments.

OFAC said the Dubai-based supplier presented itself as a middleman primarily supplying LPG from Oman and Iraq, but “in reality, the company served as a conduit for illicit Iranian supply to enter the market.”

Adani Enterprises entered the LPG market in June 2023 by importing and selling LPG in India, the statement said.

Discounted LPG

In July 2023, representatives from the company, including the head of its newly formed LPG unit, met officials from the Dubai-based trading company, according to OFAC. The supplier later informed Adani Enterprises that it could provide LPG through an affiliated entity.

An internal company document described the supplier as providing “discounted LPG from Middle East” cargoes on a spot basis, OFAC said.

The Treasury Department said Adani Enterprises relied on a 2020 sanctions compliance programme used by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, which prohibited Iranian-origin cargo and sanctioned vessels from entering ports controlled by the company.

OFAC said Adani Enterprises conducted Know Your Customer checks on the supplier and affiliated entities involved in the transactions, with no matches found on OFAC’s sanctions lists.

Still, the agency said Adani Enterprises became aware on at least four occasions between March 2023 and February 2024 of third-party concerns that cargoes supplied by the Dubai-based trader may have originated in Iran.

The U.S. maintains sanctions on Iranian energy exports as part of broader restrictions targeting Tehran’s oil and petrochemical sectors.

Sanctions suspended?

In a parallel development, oil prices turned lower in afternoon trading Monday and stock markets advanced after an Iranian media report said US officials had agreed to suspend sanctions against its crude while talks on ending the war continue.

The unconfirmed Tasnim report cited an unnamed source, but analysts said traders seized on the news after US President Donald Trump warned Tehran on Sunday that time was running out to make a deal.

Despite the uncertainty, "this is good first step, if confirmed", said Fawad Razaqzada, an analyst at Forex.com.