The US Treasury Department has imposed fresh sanctions on a shipping network accused of moving Iranian oil under the cover of Iraqi origin.
Washington said the group, led by Iraqi–St. Kitts & Nevis businessman Waleed Khaled Hameed al-Samarra’i and based in the UAE, blended Iranian barrels with Iraqi crude and sold them as if they were solely Iraqi. The operation is estimated to have generated around $300m a year for Tehran and its partners.
Nine tankers were blacklisted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) — one suezmax, four LR1s and four handysize vessels. The ships, including the 2003-built LR1s Adena and Camilla and the 2005-built suezmax Liliana, were flagged in Liberia and managed through shell firms in the Marshall Islands. They are said to have carried out ship-to-ship transfers in the Arabian Gulf and at Iraqi ports to disguise cargo origins.
Treasury also sanctioned UAE-based Babylon Navigation and Galaxy Oil, which managed logistics and sales for the network, along with several Marshall Islands companies that acted as registered owners of the vessels.
“By targeting Iran’s oil revenue stream, Treasury will further degrade the regime’s ability to carry out attacks against the United States and its allies,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The move follows sanctions announced in July against another group accused of blending Iranian and Iraqi oil for export and as US–Iran nuclear talks remain stalled, with Washington maintaining pressure on Tehran’s energy exports.
