OFAC Sanctions Network Selling Blended Iranian-Iraqi Oil
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned a network of shipping companies and vessels for smuggling and selling Iranian oil by disguising it as Iraqi oil. The network blends the two oils and markets the product internationally as “solely of Iraqi origin to avoid sanctions,” OFAC said.
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The agency designated the network’s leader, Iraqi-Kittitian businessman Waleed al-Samarra’i, who OFAC said has helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars for himself and the Iranian regime. Al-Samarra’i is based in the United Arab Emirates and runs many of the companies that manage the vessels moving the blended oil, OFAC said, adding that the network generates about $300 million annually.
OFAC also sanctioned a range of companies based in the UAE and the Marshall Islands for managing the vessels or serving as front companies, including UAE-based Babylon Navigation DMCC. Babylon operates several vessels that move the oil, including the Liberia-flagged Adena, Liliana, Camilla, Delfina, Bianca, Roberta, Alexandra, Bellagio and Paola. Those vessels blend the oil during ship-to-ship transfers in the Arabian Gulf and at Iraqi ports, OFAC said.