The United States government has launched a major financial offensive against Iran’s oil and gold smuggling operations, blacklisting a sprawling network of shipping companies, vessels, and middlemen.
The move aims to dismantle the multi-billion-dollar empire of Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani and sever the financial lifelines supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and Hizballah.
According to federal officials, these networks have been instrumental in helping the Iranian regime bypass international trade restrictions. By moving illicit oil and gold through a web of front companies across the United Arab Emirates, India, and the Marshall Islands, the regime has continued to fund regional proxies while its own domestic economy falters.
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“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,” the government stated in the release. “We will continue to expose and disrupt these networks.”
The sanctions specifically target the Shamkhani family, accusing them of amassing vast wealth at the expense of the Iranian public. Authorities noted that while ordinary Iranians face a deteriorating economy, “corrupt elites” and terrorist organizations like Hizballah are being enriched through these shadowy trade routes.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added several individuals to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, including Chetan Prakash Balhotra and Tanjore Sunilkumar Srinivas, both based in the UAE and linked to Shamkhani. Also named was Seyed Naiemaei Badroddin Moosavi, an Iranian national with ties to a separate oil-for-gold network supporting Hizballah.
The crackdown extends deep into the maritime sector. A fleet of tankers, including the Panama-flagged vessels Anika, Daphne V, and Horae, alongside the Mozambique-flagged LPG tanker Aura, were identified as key assets in the smuggling operations. Companies like Fleet Tanqo Private Limited in India and Anika Lines Inc. in the Marshall Islands were also blacklisted for their roles in managing these ships.
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This latest round of enforcement is part of a broader “maximum pressure” campaign initiated under National Security Presidential Memorandum 2. To date, the U.S. has sanctioned over 1,000 individuals, vessels, and aircraft linked to Iranian activities.
“We will not relent in our efforts to deny Iran and its proxies the resources they use to threaten U.S. interests and regional stability,” the statement concluded. By freezing the U.S.-based assets of these entities and barring American citizens from doing business with them, officials hope to further choke off the revenue streams the Iranian regime uses to maintain its influence in the Middle East and its hold over the Strait of Hormuz.
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