By Noureddine Omar | 2025-08-11

The United States has imposed unprecedented sanctions on Iranian companies and individuals involved in circumventing sanctions by illegally selling weapons and oil through front companies and the use of forged documents.

The tranche of over 115 sanctions, announced July 30 as part of a "maximum pressure" campaign, targets 50 individuals and entities and identifies more than 50 vessels that are part of the vast shipping empire of Hossein Shamkhani.

Hossein Shamkhani is the son of Gen. Ali Shamkhani, a top political advisor to Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, according to the US Treasury.

"The Shamkhani family’s shipping empire highlights how the Iranian regime elites leverage their positions to accrue massive wealth and fund the regime’s dangerous behavior," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

"The Iranian regime is continuing its attempts to circumvent the sanctions imposed on it as a result of its practices that undermine security in more than one part of the world," Iranian affairs expert Sheyar Turko told Al-Fassel.

Turko noted that "maritime trade is the most effective means of transporting large quantities of goods and thus obtaining large sums of money."

The funds the Iranian regime generates from maritime trade are funneled to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its regional affiliates, he said, "particularly the Houthis."

Transporting weapons to Russia

"The Shamkhani Company is involved in more than one case that could lead to its prosecution under international law or by certain countries," lawyer Mohammed al-Abdullah told Al-Fassel.

In addition to circumventing sanctions, the company "illegally transports weapons to Russia," he explained.

These activities significantly increase the pace of "money laundering operations," al-Abdullah said.

The manipulation of the origins of oil shipments meanwhile "directly impacts the actual oil markets, whether in relation to prices or actual quantities produced."

"The mechanism used by the Shamkhani Company relies on front companies and forged documents, which indicates the involvement of gangs affiliated with the IRGC spread across several countries to facilitate these operations," he noted.

"Over the past decades, the IRGC has undoubtedly established affiliates that provide protection and support to the front companies to carry out counterfeiting operations," he added.

This corruption "extends to a large number of countries, where agents operate under the guise of seemingly legitimate companies that run dozens of fake companies to carry out smuggling operations."

"Many entities and companies involved in these activities have been exposed, and several members affiliated with or connected to the IRGC have been implicated in their dealings," he said.