The United States sanctioned the Iranian shipping network that channeled billions of dollars in crude oil to China

The United States Department of the Treasury announced this Wednesday sanctions against more than two dozen individuals, companies, and vessels linked to the network of Iranian shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, in what it described as its largest action against Iran since 2018. The measure adds to the maximum pressure campaign that Washington intensified after the February 28 attacks against Tehran and that by 2025 had already resulted in more than 875 designations against Iranian individuals, vessels, and aircraft. Hossein Shamkhani is the son of Ali Shamkhani, who until his death in Operation Epic Fury served as a political advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and was for years a central figure in the security architecture and the Iranian nuclear program. According to the Treasury, the son leveraged that influence to build a massive fleet of tankers and cargo ships that transported crude oil and derivatives from Iran and Russia to buyers around the world, mainly in China, accumulating tens of billions of dollars in profits. The network came to control a significant part of Iranian crude oil exports, as revealed by the Treasury itself when it sanctioned Shamkhani for the first time, in July 2025.

The network operates through shipping management companies and shell companies —some publicly presented as legitimate financial services firms— to conceal the origin of the capital and the identity of its owners. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) indicated that Shamkhani used pseudonyms in all his operations: “H”, “Hector” and “Hugo Hayek”, a false name that appears in his Dominica passport, obtained through millionaire investments. The family would also have accessed luxury properties in different countries through the profits of the network.

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent justified the action in explicit terms: “The Treasury is acting aggressively with the Economic Fury initiative targeting the regime's elites, such as the Shamkhani family, who are trying to profit at the expense of the Iranian people”. The measure was coordinated with the State Department, which simultaneously designated 20 additional entities and 10 vessels under executive orders related to the trade of Iranian oil and petrochemicals, for a total of more than 115 joint designations. The sanctions also include Iranian citizen Seyed Naiemaei Badroddin Moosavi, accused of financing Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist group backed by Tehran. In addition, three companies were designated for participating in a money laundering scheme that allegedly channeled Iranian oil in exchange for Venezuelan gold. The gold from the Orinoco Mining Arc has historically been used as an opaque exchange instrument, difficult to trace once refined, making it an ideal vehicle to evade international financial restrictions, according to financial compliance analysts. Following the death of Ali Shamkhani on February 28 and the structural weakening of the Iranian armed forces in the following weeks, Iran has increasingly turned to oil revenues to finance military reconstruction and maintain its regional influence networks, including support for Hezbollah. Negotiations between Washington and Tehran to end the conflict have not yet concluded, and the price of a Brent barrel remained around $95.59 this Wednesday. The convergence between Iranian crude and Venezuelan gold in money laundering schemes points to an increasingly sophisticated sanctions economy, in which different regimes coordinate their resources to circumvent Western controls.