The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on a network of companies, ships and individuals tied to Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, an Iranian oil trader whose business empire has become a major conduit for Iran’s sanctioned petroleum exports.
Shamkhani is the son of Ali Shamkhani, a longtime senior security official who served for years as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and was eliminated in the first wave US-Israeli airstrikes in Iran on February 28.
The Treasury Department said the measures target a sprawling web of shipping and logistics firms that it says help move Iranian oil around international sanctions, generating billions of dollars in revenue for Tehran while enriching figures linked to Iran’s political elite.
“Treasury is moving aggressively with Economic Fury by targeting regime elites like the Shamkhani family that attempt to profit at the expense of the Iranian people," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
US officials said the network relied on front companies across several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, India and the Marshall Islands, along with a fleet of oil and gas tankers used to transport Iranian and Russian petroleum products.
The measures also targeted a separate financial network tied to Seyed Naiemaei Badroddin Moosavi, an Iranian national whom US officials accuse of helping facilitate oil smuggling and gold transfers linked to Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.