WASHINGTON-Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning a network of front companies and shipping facilitators that bankroll the Iranian armed forces by selling crude oil. Following its defeat in the 12-Day War with Israel, Iran’s military has increasingly come to rely on the sale of Iranian crude oil to supplement its annual budget and finance the rebuilding of its depleted forces.
“Today’s action continues Treasury’s campaign to cut off funding for the Iranian regime’s development of nuclear weapons and support of terrorist proxies,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Disrupting the Iranian regime’s revenue is critical to helping curb its nuclear ambitions.”
OFAC today is also targeting six vessels, expanding sanctions on the shadow fleet of tankers Iran relies on to transport its oil exports to market. The Trump Administration has sanctioned over 170 vessels responsible for shipping Iranian petroleum and petroleum products, driving up costs for Iranian oil exporters and reducing the revenue Iran receives for each barrel of oil sold.
Lastly, OFAC is taking further action today against Iranian airline Mahan Air, which has worked closely with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to arm and supply Iran-backed terrorist groups throughout the Middle East. Mahan Air played a key role in the Iranian regime’s efforts to arm the now-deposed regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Today’s action builds on recent sanctions taken in February and May targeting key enablers of Iran’s military oil exports. Today’s action is being taken primarily pursuant to the counterterrorism authority Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, and E.O. 13902, which targets Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sectors. It continues the robust sanctions campaign targeting Iranian oil sales in support of the President’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 (NSPM-2), instituting maximum economic pressure on Iran.
facilitating IRANIAN MILITARY OIL SALES THROUGH THE SHADOW FLEET
The Iranian military, through the designated Armed Forces General Staff oil sales arm Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars Company (Sepehr Energy Jahan), uses an array of front companies and shadow fleet vessels to obfuscate its illicit activities and sell billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil annually, supplementing its budget and providing a vital source of foreign currency.
Sepehr Energy Jahan’s oil exports depend on access to shadow fleet vessels willing to transport the military’s oil. Throughout late 2024 and early 2025, Sepehr Energy Jahan used United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based vessel chartering company Luan Bird Shipping Service L.L.C (Luan Bird) to ship Iranian oil. Luan Bird paid commissions related to Sepehr Energy Jahan crude oil shipments aboard the sanctioned vessels BOREAS (IMO 9248497; now URI), SIRI (IMO 9281683), and OXIS (IMO 9224805). In early 2025, Sepehr Energy Jahan used Luan Bird to charter the sanctioned vessels BALU (IMO 9235244) and ROC (IMO 9275660).
UAE-based Mars Investment L.L.C, a Sepehr Energy Jahan front company, financed millions of dollars’ worth of chartering agreements with owners of shadow fleet vessels. In spring 2024, Sepehr Energy Jahan used Mars Investment L.L.C to pay U.S.-designated shipping company Oceanlink Maritime DMCC to charter the sanctioned vessels BOREAS and HECATE (IMO 9233753). Similarly, in early 2024, Mars Investment L.L.C and Oceanlink Maritime DMCC collaborated to deliver nearly two million barrels of Iranian oil to Sepehr Energy Jahan front company Milen Trading Co., Limited.
Panama-based Loire Shipping Inc. has served as the registered owner of the sanctioned vessel HEBE (IMO 9259185) since January 2020. Since its sanctioning in April 2024, the HEBE, now known as the DAKSHA, has continued its activities on behalf of Sepehr Energy Jahan at the direction of Sepehr Energy Jahan officials.
Between early January and early February 2025, the Panama-flagged KALLISTA (IMO 9411965), owned and operated by Greece-based Altomare S.A., transported nearly four million barrels of Iranian oil in multiple shipments on behalf of Sepehr Energy Jahan.
Luan Bird Shipping Service L.L.C, Mars Investment L.L.C, Loire Shipping Inc., and Altomare S.A. are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Sepehr Energy Jahan. KALLISTA is being identified as property in which Altomare S.A. has an interest.
FRONT COMPANIES facilitating IRANIAN MILITARY OIL SALES
In addition to using front companies to charter vessels, Sepehr Energy Jahan also uses front companies to serve numerous other roles in Iran’s oil export supply chain. UAE-based Moon Line Plastics and Raw Materials Trading L.L.C (Moon Line) is a Sepehr Energy Jahan front company that has served as a shipper of Iranian military oil cargoes. In early 2024, Sepehr Energy Jahan shipped nearly two million barrels of Iranian crude oil, worth over $100 million, on board the HECATE, then known as the ATILAN. At around the same time as the HECATE shipment in early 2024, Moon Line arranged a contract to ship an additional two million barrels of Iranian oil. Sepehr Energy Jahan sought to disguise the providence of the oil by labeling it as Malaysian heavy crude, a common tactic of the Iranian armed forces and Iranian oil smugglers writ large.
Moon Line Plastics and Raw Materials Trading L.L.C is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Sepehr Energy Jahan.
While Sepehr Energy Jahan controls a vast network of front companies, it must still rely on outside providers for key services. UAE-based Alsafeenah Althahabya Ship and Boats Spare Parts and Components Trading L.L.C (Alsafeenah), also known as Golden Argo Marine Services Co., provides ship-to-ship services in the Persian Gulf, a legitimate trade practice misused by the shadow fleet to obfuscate oil cargo origins and movements in violation of sanctions. Alsafeenah facilitated multiple such ship-to-ship operations on behalf of Sepehr Energy Jahan, all of which involved sanctioned National Iranian Tanker Company vessels that offloaded their Iranian cargoes to shadow fleet vessels for transshipment to Asia. Alsafeenah was in direct contact with Sepehr Energy Jahan officials Elyas Niroomand Toomaj (Toomaj) and Sayyed Mojtaba Hosseini (Hosseini). Hosseini has been associated with many of the Sepehr Energy Jahan family of companies; throughout 2023 and 2024, Hosseini coordinated with Alsafeenah to pay for these ship-to-ship services on behalf of Sepehr Energy Jahan.
As of early 2025, India-based RN Ship Management Private Limited (RN Ship Management), led by Indian nationals Zair Husain Iqbal Husain Sayed (Zair Husain) and Zulfikar Hussain Rizvi Sayed (Zulfikar Hussain), served as the operator of multiple vessels used by Sepehr Energy Jahan to ship Iranian oil, including the sanctioned vessel SOBAR (IMO 9221970).
RN Ship Management Private Limited and Alsafeenah Althahabya Ship and Boats Spare Parts and Components Trading L.L.C are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Sepehr Energy Jahan. Zair Husain Iqbal Husain Sayed and Zulfikar Hussain Rizvi Sayed are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being leaders or officials of RN Ship Management Private Limited.
Intermediaries Providing Logistics Support to Iranian Military Oil Sales
For the Iranian military to sell its oil, Sepehr Energy Jahan must first find buyers willing to risk sanctions. Iran does so by offering significant discounts on the price of its oil, and buyers often use front companies and intermediaries of their own to conceal the identity of the ultimate end-user. In early 2025, Germany-based BPT Berlin Petroleum Trading GmbH (BPT Berlin) sought to purchase millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil from Sepehr Energy Jahan using the sanctioned vessel PANDA (IMO 9284582), which was to be delivered near Malaysia via ship-to-ship transfer. As of mid-2025, the PANDA had delivered hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to vessels in the Singapore Eastern Outer Port Limits (EOPL) via ship-to-ship transfer. BPT Berlin previously purchased oil from another Sepehr Energy Jahan front, Xin Rui Ji Trad Co., Limited, in late 2023. Sepehr Energy Jahan was willing to offer a hefty discount of $17 per barrel on the sale, illustrating the significant financial loss Iranian oil exporters face as a result of U.S. sanctions.
Between late 2024 and early 2025, UAE-based Shandong Independent Energy Trading DMCC (Shandong Independent Energy) made multiple deals with Sepehr Energy Jahan front companies Milen Trading Co., Limited and Star Energy International Limited to purchase over one million barrels of crude oil valued at nearly $70 million. UAE-based Shandong Independent Energy’s business dealings with Sepehr Energy Jahan’s front companies ultimately resulted in the delivery of Iranian oil.
BPT Berlin Petroleum Trading GmbH and Shandong Independent Energy Trading DMCC are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Sepehr Energy Jahan.
Sepehr Energy Jahan’s complex front company networks, business partnerships, and oil sales contracts are managed by trusted associates and employees. Iranian nationals Hamidreza Heidari (Heidari), Mohammad Moloudi (Moloudi), Kaveh Rostami Zahabi (Zahabi), Ahmad Ghaedi (Ghaedi), Sayyed Mojtaba Hosseini (Hosseini), and Bulgarian national Penka Ivanova Madzharska (Madzharska) have all contributed to Sepehr Energy Jahan’s efforts. For example, UAE-based Ghaedi assisted Sepehr Energy Jahan with multiple shipments of Iranian oil, including a mid-2025 delivery of Iranian oil for the benefit of the IRGC. Iran-based petroleum surveyor Moloudi has likewise assisted Sepehr Energy Jahan by directing and managing vessels carrying Iranian oil on Sepehr Energy Jahan’s behalf, to include directing vessels to disable and/or manipulate their automatic identification system transponders and to falsify vessel markings to disguise sanctioned vessels, in addition to coordinating ship-to-ship transfers and using falsified shipping documents.
Heidari has provided technical assistance to multiple Sepehr Energy Jahan front companies, including Xin Rui Ji Trad Co., Limited, Star Energy International Limited, Tetis Global FZE, Milen Trading Co., Limited, and Puyuan Trade Co., Limited, by testing and managing multiple email accounts for the network. Zahabi aided Sepehr Energy Jahan on the finance side of the company’s operations, working closely with Toomaj to coordinate shipping documents, business meetings, and manage Sepehr Energy Jahan’s funds, including cryptocurrency. Hosseini served as senior executive of Sepehr Energy Jahan affiliates Sepehr Energy Paya Gostar Jahan and Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Taban. Hosseini similarly helped Sepehr Energy Jahan coordinate numerous shipments on the company’s behalf.
As of late 2025, Bulgarian national and businesswoman Madzharska was assisting Sepehr Energy Jahan and its officials, including Toomaj, with securing banking access and investment opportunities in Europe.
Hamidreza Heidari, Mohammad Moludi, Kaveh Rostami Zahabi, Ahmad Ghaedi, and Sayyed Mojtaba Hosseini are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Sepehr Energy Jahan. Penka Ivanova Madzharska is being designated for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Elyas
Niroomand Toomaj.
UPHOLDING MAXIMUM PRESSURE on iran’S SHADOW FLEET
Iran’s shadow fleet forms the critical lifeline linking Iranian oil product terminals and end users in East and South Asia, providing the regime the ability to bring its oil and other petroleum products to market.
Liberia-registered Pioneer Tankers Marine Incorporated serves as the registered owner of the Palau-flagged crude oil tanker PIONEER SAM (IMO 9232620), which has transported over 10 million barrels of Iranian fuel oil across more than 30 shipments in the past two years.
In 2024, PIONEER SAM was contracted to deliver over 60 million dollars’ worth of fuel oil
distillates to the UAE on behalf of NIOC.
Panama-based Thasos Maritime and Trading S.A., Serifos Maritime and Trading S.A., Tilos Maritime and Trading S.A., and Corfu Maritime and Trading S.A. own or operate shadow fleet vessels that have transported millions of barrels of Iranian liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and other petroleum products, largely to customers in South Asia.
The Gambia-flagged TUSITALA (IMO 8912546) and NEXO (IMO 9014456) have transported Iranian petroleum products for years and are collectively responsible for shipping millions of barrels of Iranian LPG in 2025 alone. In early 2025, the TUSITALA and NEXO each transported six million barrels of Iranian petroleum products that were later transferred to daughter vessels in ship-to-ship operations off the coast of the UAE, a process conducted in order to obfuscate the origin of their cargos. Panama-flagged KAISA I (IMO 9038763) and GAS ATHENA (IMO 9267950) have transported hundreds of thousands of barrels of LPG to customers in South Asia, including Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The TUSITALA, NEXO, KAISA I, and GAS ATHENA have all been associated with the LPG tanker fleet of Iranian LPG magnate Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh, whose corporate network is collectively responsible for shipping hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian LPG and crude oil to foreign markets. Treasury designated Emamjomeh pursuant to E.O. 13902 in April 2025 for operating in the petroleum sector of the Iranian economy. At the time of his designation, Emamjomeh’s network was seeking to load American LPG off the coast of Houston, Texas.
Pioneer Tankers Marine Incorporated is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13902 for operating in the petroleum sector of the Iranian economy. The PIONEER SAM is being identified as blocked property in which Pioneer Tankers Marine Incorporated has an interest.
Thasos Maritime and Trading S.A., Serifos Maritime and Trading S.A., Tilos Maritime and Trading S.A., and Corfu Maritime and Trading S.A. are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13902 for operating in the petroleum sector of the Iranian economy.
The TUSITALA, NEXO, KAISA I, and GAS ATHENA are being identified as blocked property in which Thasos Maritime and Trading S.A., Serifos Maritime and Trading S.A., Tilos Maritime and Trading S.A., and Corfu Maritime and Trading S.A. have an interest, respectively.
IRANIAN AIRLINE USED TO Support iranian proxies
Mahan Air subsidiary, Iran-based Yazd International Airways Company (Yazd Airways), assists its parent company in providing critical support to Iranian terrorist groups and their efforts to foment regional instability. Prior to the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, aircraft registered under Yazd Airways were utilized by Iran’s IRGC-QF, a designated foreign terrorist organization, to transport IRGC-QF officers to Lebanon to support Lebanese Hizballah operations against Israel and to transfer weapons to Syria under the protection of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
Yazd International Airways Company is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Mahan Air.
Reza Heidari currently serves as the managing director of Yazd Airways, while Reza Namakshenas serves as its vice chairman. Reza Heidari and Reza Namakshenas are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being a leader or official of Yazd Airways.
Mahan Air acquires Western aircraft through a cadre of officials trained in procuring aircraft from abroad. Mahan Air flight operations manager Mohammad Mahdi Maghfoori (Maghfoori), the second highest supervising official for Mahan Air under CEO Hamid Arabnejad, leads a team that has obtained passenger jets previously used by the Dubai Air Wing and the French Air and Space Force. In 2022, Maghfoori personally oversaw the transfer of aircraft, including EP-MJA, from Mali to Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran and an airbase associated with the Iranian Air Force. Maghfoori, nominally a civilian executive of Mahan Air, has used his civilian cover to collaborate with the IRGC-QF in smuggling weapons to Iranian proxies in Syria and Lebanon. Mohammad Reza Moaref Jahromi has likewise served as a pilot for Mahan Air.
Mahan Air officials use foreign front companies to aid in their procurement of Western aircraft. One such company, Gambia-based Macka Invest Company Limited, aided Mahan Air in acquiring two A340, passenger jets, EP-MMU and EP-MJG, from Lithuania in early 2024, which are now operated by Mahan Air.
Treasury is also identifying four other Western aircraft procured and operated by Mahan Air as blocked property in which Mahan Air has an interest: EP-MJE, EP-MEB, EP-MEH, and EP-MJF.
Mohammad Mahdi Maghfoori and Mohammad Reza Moaref Jahromi are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Mahan Air. Macka Invest Company Limited is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Mahan Air.
EP-MJA, EP-MJE, EP-MJG, EP-MMU, EP-MEB, EP-MEH, and EP-MJF are being identified pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, as property in which Mahan Air has an interest.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons.
Violations of U.S. sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons. OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis. OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions. In addition, financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving designated or otherwise blocked persons. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated or blocked person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.