The United States on Thursday sanctioned a global shipping and smuggling network allegedly controlled by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of Ali Shamkhani, Iran's former national security chief and an adviser to supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
More than 50 individuals and entities were designated, and over 50 vessels identified, in what the US Treasury called its largest Iran-related action since 2018.
“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,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
According to the Treasury, Hossein Shamkhani—who uses false identities including “H,” “Hector,” and “Hugo Hayek,” the name on his Dominican passport—built the network by exploiting his father’s political reach.
“This network transports oil and petroleum products from Iran and Russia, as well as other cargo, to buyers around the world, generating tens of billions of dollars in profit,” the Treasury press release said.
'Targeting elite not people'
The agency added that the network’s containership fleet also carries cargo in and out of Iran, employing tactics similar to those used by sanctioned oil tankers—frequent changes in operators and management firms to obscure ties to the Shamkhani family and avoid blacklisting.
The sweeping sanctions freeze any US-based assets and prohibit Americans from doing business with the named entities.
The Shamkhani family has also been accused of using its illicit wealth to obtain foreign passports and luxury properties abroad—privileges far removed from the daily struggles of ordinary Iranians.
“These sanctions target the regime’s elite inner circle,” Bessent said, “not the people of Iran.”
Ali Shamkhani, a former defense minister and former secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was sanctioned by the US in 2020. Thursday’s action suggests Washington sees his family as central to Tehran’s efforts to evade international economic pressure.
Though enforcement depends on cooperation from third parties, the move signals Washington’s intent to escalate pressure on Iran’s ruling elite amid stalled nuclear diplomacy and deepening ties between Tehran and Moscow.
