- Action Also Targets Hizballah Gold Scheme Benefitting Iran’s Military
WASHINGTON, USA — US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on April 15, 2026, 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), the son of now-deceased senior Iranian security official Ali Shamkhani.
“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,” said secretary of the treasury Scott Bessent. “Under president Trump’s leadership, Treasury will continue to cut off Iran’s illicit smuggling and terror proxy networks. Financial institutions should be on notice that Treasury will leverage all tools and authorities, including secondary sanctions, against those that continue to support Tehran’s terrorist activities.”
Shamkhani heads a multi-billion-dollar Iranian and Russian petroleum sales empire that enriches a family connected to the highest echelons of the Iranian regime at the expense of the Iranian people. Today’s action builds on OFAC’s July 2025 designation of the Shamkhani network—which remains its largest single action to date since the Trump administration revived the maximum pressure campaign against Iran.
In a joint investigation with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), OFAC is also designating Iranian national and Lebanese Hizballah-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 ultimately on behalf of Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
Today’s action is being taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13902, which provides authority to the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the secretary of state, to identify and impose sanctions on key sectors of Iran’s economy, and the counterterrorism authority E.O. 13224, as amended by E.O. 13886 (“E.O. 13224, as amended”). It marks the latest round of sanctions targeting Iranian oil sales and proxies such as Hizballah since the President issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 (NSPM-2), instituting a campaign of maximum economic pressure on Iran and its regional proxies. Since the issuance of NSPM-2, OFAC has sanctioned over 1,000 persons, vessels, and aircraft as part of this campaign.
Network uses front companies to evade sanctions and finance 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 is a shipping, commodity, and logistics company under which much of the Shamkhani network’s operations fall, including many of the shipping and commodity trading firms sanctioned in July 2025. One such company, UAE-based Corplinx Consultancy LLC FZ (Corplinx), acts as an administrative, consulting, and business services firm within the Shamkhani umbrella of companies. Shamkhani network employees use Corplinx web domains to disguise the financial and corporate operations of the network. Another such company,
UAE-based House of Shipping Investment FZCO (House of Shipping), acts as a shipping firm for Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani and his business partners. House of Shipping Private Limited 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, provides supplies to the Shamkhani network’s shipping operations, including parts and provisions to ensure vessels can stay crewed and in good repair on the water.
UAE-based Meritron DMCC (Meritron) 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. Between 2025 and early 2026, Meritron sought to purchase two new construction vessels, worth tens of millions of dollars, from South Korea on behalf of the Shamkhani network. Meritron replaced designated Shamkhani company Teodor Shipping L.L.C. in this transaction and has contributed tens of millions of dollars toward the vessels’ construction. Meritron DMCC was previously managed by Shamkhani network associate Elisabetta Cadeddu and is a former subsidiary of Max Energy Fuel Trading LLC, both of which were sanctioned as part of OFAC’s July 2025 action against the network.
UAE-based Chetan Prakash Balhotra is a director of Meritron and has worked on behalf of U.S.-designated ship management firm Marvise SMC DMCC. Marvise SMC DMCC shifted operations to UAE-based Helmatic Consultancy DMCC following its July 2025 designation. UAE-based Tanjore Sunilkumar Srinivas has served as an official of multiple firms in the Shamkhani network, including by acting as a procurement manager for Marvise SMC DMCC, and as an executive in multiple Shamkhani-associated companies.
UAE-based Taylor Shipping FZCO (Taylor Shipping), formerly known as Lazar Shipping, which was also affiliated with Marvise SMC DMCC, is a shipping company that has held key roles with multiple sanctioned vessels in the Shamkhani fleet. For example, the Shamkhani network tapped Taylor Shipping to manage the sanctioned vessel YUG as it delivered Iranian commodities to East Asia on behalf of Iranian Armed Forces General Staff front company Sepehr Energy Jahan. Marshall Islands-based Shipza Shipping Limited similarly acts as a Shamkhani network shipping company and has been linked to multiple sanctioned vessels used by the network to transport cargo, including STAR (IMO 9436484) and TAVA 4 (IMO 9292151; formerly MOANA).
House of Shipping Investment FZCO, Taylor Shipping FZCO, Corplinx Consultancy LLC FZ, Helmatic Consultancy DMCC, Oriel Group, and Chetan Prakash Balhotra are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13902 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani.
Shipza Shipping Limited, Meritron DMCC, and Tanjore Sunilkumar Srinivas are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13902 for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani. Shipstar Shipchandling LLC and House of Shipping Private Limited are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13902 for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, House of Shipping Investment FZCO.
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