Cyprus-based shipping company sanctioned by US over Iran links
A Cyprus-based shipping company by the name of “GMCG Ltd” was designated as “blocked property” by the United States’ government as part of the country’s latest round of sanctions imposed on Iran and its interests.
The company is, according to the US’ treasury department, linked to a man named Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of Ali Shamkhani, who is described by the US government as “a top political advisor to the supreme leader of Iran” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The US government added that Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani “leverages corruption through his father’s political influence at the highest levels of the Iranian regime to build and operate a massive fleet of tankers and container ships”.
“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,” it added.
GMCG Ltd – short for Global Maritime Consultants Group – is based in Limassol, and was named alongside GMCG Shipping LLC, which is based in the United Arab Emirates, as a company which has “incorporated and paid fees for front companies used by [Shamkhani’s] network”, including one shell company based in the Marshall Islands.
That network, the US’ treasury department said, “comprises a vast fleet of vessels, ship management firms, and front companies – some posing as legitimate financial services firms – that launder billions in profits from global sales of Iranian and Russian crude oil and other petroleum products”.
“The network employs significant measures to disguise its operations and obfuscate its ties to the Shamkhani family, Iran, and Russia.”
As such, it said, Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani “solely uses aliases” when conducting his business activities, including “H”, “Hector”, and “Hugo Hayek”.
“The network’s fleet, which consists of both oil tankers and container ships, undergoes frequent changes in the operators and managers of each vessel to ensure that determining the ultimate responsibility for any particular vessel remains opaque and difficult to trace back to the Shamkhani family,” it said.
In addition, it said the fleet has “at times” been given “preferential treatment over other vessels when loading or unloading in Iranian ports”.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said 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 behaviour”.
He added that the sanctions package targeting the family is “the largest to-date since the Trump administration implemented our campaign of maximum pressure on Iran”.
Earlier, the US treasury department had described the package as the biggest since 2018.
“These actions put America first by targeting regime elites that profit while Tehran threatens the safety of the United States,” Bessent said.
Declaring a company as “blocked property”, according to the US treasury department, “immediately imposes an across-the-board prohibition against transfers or dealings of any kind” with it.