Circumventing Iran Sanctions by the Largest Trade Group Affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran

Circumventing Iran’s sanctions by the largest commercial group affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran

Circumventing Iran’s sanctions by the largest commercial group affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to Iran Gate, the management of the largest commercial group serving the Islamic Republic of Iran to bypass sanctions is led by the children of Ali Shamkhani, the former Secretary of Iran’s National Security Council. This commercial group, by establishing a network of shell companies in various countries like the USA, UK, and some European countries, is responsible for transporting Iran’s petrochemical and oil products.

Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani is one of Ali Shamkhani’s sons and his eldest son. Hossein is the most controversial member of the Shamkhani family. Many controversies surrounding him and his economic corruption cases have been published in the media. Mehdi Nasiri, the former editor of Kayhan newspaper and a principled journalist, in statements attacking Ali Shamkhani, the former Secretary of the National Security Council, accused Hossein of stealing oil money.

There is also a significant trace of Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani in various cases, including the seized ship Admiral, which after the news of its seizure led to the dissolution of the Admiral company.

In February 2022, Indian Coast Guard forces reported the seizure of a container ship named Kabul at the port of Kandla on India’s western coast. Immediately after this news was released, it was revealed that the owner of the seized ship was Admiral company, which belongs to Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani.

The case of the ship seizure belonging to Admiral company is a key event that, when exposed, revealed the role of the Shamkhani family in bypassing oil sanctions.

Another one of their companies, VENTURE, registered in Panama, was shut down in 2018. This company, registered by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, Naji Shamkhani, and another Indian individual in Panama, was responsible for transporting goods and oil and petrochemical shipments from Iran. Due to the sanctions imposed during the Trump administration and Naji Shamkhani being placed on the sanctions list, this company was also closed.

The Shamkhani commercial group and most oil groups with ties to the official power of the Islamic Republic of Iran consider Panama a safe haven and use this country’s secure environment for registering maritime transport companies and financial transactions from the sale of oil and petrochemical products of the Islamic Republic. They also use flags from countries like Liberia, Panama, or the Marshall Islands for their ships in maritime traffic to bypass United States sanctions.

After the identity of the founders of this company was exposed, Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani changed his identity and obtained a passport from the Dominican Republic under a different name and continues his commercial activities in service of the underground economy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Most of the maritime transport companies under the management of the children of the former Secretary of the National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran are controlled by Indian and Pakistani individuals to prevent these companies from being identified.

One of the individuals working with the commercial network of the Islamic Republic is Hossein Ghorbani Zahed, who recently registered a company named GOLDEN NEST GROUP LTD in the UK with Dominican nationality. Most businessmen serving to bypass sanctions for the Islamic Republic of Iran obtain the nationality of other countries under different names to easily conduct their illicit economic activities in secret.

Another person associated with this group who was identified and sanctioned is Salim Ahmed Saeed, a British-Iraqi businessman. The Wall Street Journal claims that according to informed individuals, American officials believe the man behind the oil mixing operations is Salim Ahmed Saeed, a British citizen of Iraqi origin, and several companies share email addresses and companies with his, including Al-Iraqiya Shipping Services and Oil Trading FZE, known as AISSOT.

Mr. Saeed, in emails to the Wall Street Journal, denied ownership of AISSOT or violating U.S. sanctions against Iran with any of his owned or controlled companies.

من مالک شرکت نفت آیکن و کشتیرانی راین هستم. من صاحب آیسوت نیستم. شرکت‌های من به هیچ وجه نفت ایران را با نقض تحریم‌های آمریکا ارسال نکرده‌اند و تمامی مبادلات من با عراق کاملاً قانونی بوده است.

This network, led by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani and Abolfazl Shamkhani, the sons of the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, operates like a spider’s web and has registered extensive shell companies in various countries including the USA, Germany, the UK, and European countries to circumvent the sanctions of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The USA, Germany, the UK, and some European countries have imposed sanctions to prevent the sale of oil and financial transactions of the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, how is it that individuals from this network register companies in these very countries to neutralize these sanctions and engage in trade and money laundering for the Islamic Republic of Iran?

One of the issues raised is that despite Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, being on the U.S. sanctions list, his children, who lead the largest mafia-like commercial group serving the Islamic Republic of Iran to bypass sanctions, were never placed on the sanctions list.

This double standard of the West strengthens the possibility that a secret agreement between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been made to prevent the sanctioning of these individuals. The U.S. sanctions in recent years have caused severe economic pressure on the Iranian people, but the economic mafia groups of the Islamic Republic of Iran have gained significant profits from these sanctions and have become more powerful every day.