US Designates Network of Over 100 People, Entities Helping Iran Evade Sanctions
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned more than 115 people, entities and vessels for their ties to Iran, including for their part in a “vast shipping empire” controlled by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of a top political adviser to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Shamkhani. The designations -- which target a network generating tens of billions of dollars for Iran by moving oil and petroleum products from Iran and Russia to buyers around the world -- represent the U.S.'s largest Iran-related sanctions action since 2018, OFAC said.
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The sanctions target a range of ships, ship management firms and front companies that OFAC said launder billions in profits from global sales of Iranian and Russian energy sales to buy in China. Among those sanctioned are companies in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, Panama, Hong Kong and Romania along with ships sailing with the flags of Liberia, Grenadines, Cameroon, Tanzania and more. OFAC also sanctioned shipping managers and owners from Italy, India and the U.K.
Hossein Shamkhani’s network controls a “significant portion” of Iran’s crude oil exports, and the ships use a range of tactics to disguise their operations and their ties to the Shamkhani family, such as using aliases and frequent ownership changes, OFAC said. One company, UAE-based Marvise SMC DMCC, provides management services to many of Hossein Shamkhani’s shipping firms and “secretly” controls a fleet of dozens of ships that publicly appear to be owned by multiple other companies transporting energy for Iran, the agency said.
OFAC also pointed to Switzerland-based Progwin Shipping SA, formerly known as Fractal Shipping SA, which is managed by French and British national Mathieu Alain Michel Philippe. The agency said the company has “drawn public attention for the unusual speed at which it assembled an expansive fleet of aging tankers,” and for the firm’s “willingness to exploit the high rates of return in shipping Russian oil, all for the benefit of Hossein Shamkhani’s network. UAE-based entities The Zulu Ships Management and Operation - Sole Proprietorship L.L.C., Wanta Shipping L.L.C-FZ, and Algae Ship Charter - FZCO are other companies that regularly “shuffle in and out of management and operator roles” for Hossein’s fleet, OFAC said.
The U.S. also sanctioned multiple people who it said act as “witting personnel” overseeing sanctions evasion and money laundering. It designated Alireza Derakhshan, a dual national of Iran and Dominica, for being a ship captain with a “long history” of sanctions evasion and moving Iranian oil. It also designated a range of vessels operated by “special purpose vehicles incorporated specifically for providing a legal and financial insulation around each of Hossein Shamkhani’s vessels.”
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, welcomed OFAC’s actions. “These new sanctions against Iran’s illicit oil trade send a clear message that their support for terror and aggression won’t go unchecked,” Lawler said in an e-mailed statement. “We must continue to stand firm against regimes that threaten global security, and we must keep the pressure on Iran until they abandon their nuclear program and end support for their terror proxies.”