Penka from Bulgaria Sanctioned by US for Assisting Iranian Oil Exports

A Bulgarian woman has been sanctioned by the United States for violating the oil embargo imposed on Iran. Penka Ivanova Madzharska, born on June 8, 1977, in the town of Rakovski, appears on a list of foreign individuals, companies, and tankers published yesterday by US authorities.

According to official records, Madzharska was sanctioned for providing support to Iranian national Elias Nirumand Toumazh, an employee of Sepehr Energy. The company was previously sanctioned by the US in February 2025 for exporting nearly two million barrels of Iranian crude oil valued at over USD 100 million, roughly 96 million euros, to China aboard the tanker OXIS, which sails under the Cameroonian flag.

The sanctions targeting Madzharska are considered secondary. They prohibit her from entering the United States and bar her from conducting any trade or business activities with US citizens or entities.

The United States first imposed sanctions on Tehran in 1979, followed by several additional waves from both the US and the European Union. In 2018, during his first presidential term, Donald Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear agreement with Iran and intensified sanctions, reducing Iranian oil exports to nearly zero in some months. Under President Joe Biden, however, Iranian exports have gradually increased, as analysts note that sanctions have been applied less strictly, and Iran has found ways to circumvent them.

China does not officially recognize sanctions imposed on its trading partners. Chinese private refiners remain the primary buyers of Iranian oil, and some of these companies were recently added to the US Treasury Department’s sanctions list. Despite this, there is no clear evidence that these measures have substantially reduced Iranian oil flows to China.

Iran has successfully evaded sanctions for years through ship-to-ship transfers and by concealing the satellite positions of its tankers, allowing it to continue exporting oil despite international restrictions.