Who is the Iranian oil tycoon Shamkhani whose ship is stuck in Hormuz? | | Articles of Controversy

Maritime tracking service TankerTrackers.com said on Thursday that the ship that Iranian media reported had sunk in the Strait of Hormuz had been stuck in the same location since March and was part of a well-known operation. Iranian oil producer Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani.

This is what we know about Shamkhani, who the US and the EU say is the middle man in the activities of Iranian and Russian naval vessels, which generate billions of dollars in oil revenue for both, and what happened to his ship in the Hormuz strait.

What do we know about the ship?

On Thursday, TankerTrackers.com reported that the ship that Iranian media said had sunk in the Strait of Hormuz after using a “US method” had been anchored in the same location since March.

It identified the ship as the Arista, and said that although it was flying the Comoros flag, it was actually part of a project run by Iranian oil magnate Shamkhani.

Who is Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani and what are they accusing him of?

Shamkhani is an Iranian oil tanker executive who has many sanctions against the Europeans. He is the son of the deceased Ali Shamkhanisenior political adviser to former Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ali Shamkhani headed the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) for ten years until 2023, making him the second longest-serving security chief since 1979 after former President Hassan Rouhani, who served as SNSC secretary for nearly 16 years.

He is said to have been killed in the first Israeli-US war in Tehran on February 28, which sparked the war with Iran and killed Khamenei, whose funeral begins tomorrow.

In March, the Sarajevo-Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) report that upon investigation, Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani and his brother used the so-called “golden passports” of the Caribbean to obtain $29m in Dubai.

The US Treasury, which has recognized the Shamkhani shipping empire, says it is part of a major Iranian-Russian oil smuggling ring and that the Comoros-flagged Arista in Hormuz is part of the network.

How does Shamkhani oil delivery work?

According to the US Treasury, Shamkhani’s network uses “front” companies to buy Iranian and Russian oil that falsify shipping documents. They transfer fuel between ships often through their own shipping lines and sell the fuel to buyers who pay for it through their front companies to disrupt cash flows.

Additional profits are provided through hedge funds and other investment activities, the US Treasury says.

It said that Shamkhani relies on a mixture of crude oil, petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanks to generate billions of dollars for the governments of Iran and Russia.

According to the European Commission, Mr. Shamkhani “uses the company Milavous Group Ltd to mix crude oil with different types of oil from Russia and change its name to export it, hiding its origin”.

Shamkhani is not known to have commented publicly on the matter.

What are the punishments given to Shamkhani?

Shamkhani was first sanctioned by the US last July, amid a series of sanctions related to Iran. In April, the US Treasury Department announced further sanctions against Shamkhani’s network.

“Treasury is going strong with Economic Fury by targeting government officials like the Shamkhani family who are trying to profit off the Iranian people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

A statement from the US Treasury also said that Shamkhani “leads a multi-billion dollar Iranian and Russian petroleum business that enriches a family connected to the top officials of the Iranian government at the expense of the Iranian people”.

A website monitored by the European Union said Mr Shamkhani was also subject to EU sanctions, saying he was a “Russian oil trader and a player among Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”.

Russian tankers are a group of aging, poorly maintained tankers that Russia uses to export oil and gas while evading Western sanctions imposed after its annexation of Ukraine in 2022.

In August last year, the UK government announced further sanctions against Shamkhani including a stock freeze, director ban and travel ban. Minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer said: “The UK is announcing sanctions against those acting on behalf of Iran, strengthening its attempts to undermine stability in the Middle East and security around the world.

“Iran’s reliance on financial resources from a network of brokers and affiliated organizations enables it to engage in disruptive activities, including supporting proxies and allies across the region and directing government threats to the UK.”