WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Government has intensified pressure on Iran's illicit oil transportation infrastructure by sanctioning more than two dozen individuals, companies, and vessels operating within the network of Iranian oil shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani.
Shamkhani is the son of Ali Shamkhani, who was a powerful figure in the Iranian regime, and was killed in the targeted strikes on the Iranian Defense Council meeting on February 28, at the outbreak of the Middle East war.
The latest round of U.S. sanctions target elements of U.S.-designated Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani's multi-billion-dollar oil smuggling empire that enriches the Iranian regime and its elites. It also targets a separate oil-for-gold network that finances Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp-Qods Force.
Shamkhani heads a multi-billion dollar Iranian and Russian petroleum sales empire that enriches a family connected to the elite leaders of the Iranian regime.
The Shamkhani network evades sanctions through a group of seemingly legitimate administrative, consulting, and shipping firms that manage all aspects of the network's fleet. These firms and their employees maintain a robust public presence to provide a veneer of legitimacy while allowing the network to support the Iranian regime and enrich the Shamkhani family.
UAE-based Oriel Group, a shipping, commodity, and logistics company under which much of the Shamkhani network's operations fall; UAE-based Corplinx Consultancy LLC FZ (Corplinx), which acts as an administrative, consulting, and business services firm within the Shamkhani umbrella of companies; UAE-based House of Shipping Investment FZCO (House of Shipping), which acts as a shipping firm for Shamkhani; House of Shipping Private Limited, which is the Indian office for, and a direct subsidiary of, House of Shipping; UAE-based Shipstar Shipchandling LLC, a company controlled by House of Shipping; and UAE-based Meritron DMCC (Meritron), which is a Shamkhani front company used to clandestinely procure new vessels for the network's shipping operations and facilitate the transportation of sanctioned petroleum products from Iran are among the companied sanctioned by the OFAC.
The Department of the Treasury said that on the basis of a joint investigation by its Office of Foreign Assets Control and Homeland Security Investigations, it is also designating Iranian national and Lebanese Hezbollah-financier Seyed Naiemaei Badroddin Moosavi and three companies linked to a complex money laundering scheme involving the sale of Iranian oil in exchange for Venezuelan gold under the former Venezuelan dictatorship, all on behalf of Hezballah and Iran's IRGC-QF.
The Iranian regime continues to enrich corrupt elites like the Shamkhani family while ordinary Iranians suffer under a deteriorating economy. The regime likewise funnels the wealth of the Iranian people to Hezbollah and other terrorists in the Middle East. 'These designations underscore our commitment to maximum pressure on Iran and its terrorist proxies,' the State Department said.
The complex schemes involving illicit Iranian oil, gold, and terrorist financing demonstrate the lengths to which Iran and its partners will go to evade sanctions and fund malign activities.
Since President Donald Trump issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 2, the United States has sanctioned more than 1,000 persons, vessels, and aircraft as part of its campaign against Iranian malign activity.
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