The U.S. Treasury doesn’t throw around the phrase “largest sanctions package since 2018” lightly. On July 30, 2025, that’s exactly what it used to describe its action against Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, an Iranian oil shipping magnate whose network the Treasury says has been quietly moving sanctioned crude across the globe while Western regulators looked elsewhere.

More than 50 individuals and entities were designated alongside Shamkhani in that single action, a sweep that also drew coordinated responses from the EU in July 2025 and the UK in August 2025.

Who is Shamkhani, and how does the network work

Shamkhani is the son of the late Iranian security figure Ali Shamkhani, a name well-known in Iranian political circles. The younger Shamkhani built something considerably less visible: a network of shipping firms and front companies that U.S. authorities say manages a significant share of Iran’s crude oil exports to buyers primarily in Asia.

The flagship entities are Milavous Group Ltd and Admiral Shipping, but the structure runs deeper than two brand names.

Vessels in the fleet use document forgery and cargo blending to obscure the origin of Iranian and Russian oil, making sanctioned barrels look like something more palatable to buyers who might otherwise pass. The revenue generated runs into the billions, according to U.S. authorities, who assert the proceeds flow back to the Iranian regime and affiliated elites rather than staying in the commercial entity.

The April 15, 2026 expansion of these sanctions added more than two dozen additional companies, vessels, and financial ties, including connections to Hizballah, indicating the network was wider than the initial July action captured.

The paper trail: real estate, forfeiture, and the DOJ

The Department of Justice filed civil forfeiture complaints in March 2026 seeking more than $15.3 million in funds connected to Shamkhani’s enterprises.

That same month, reporting from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project revealed approximately $29 million in Dubai luxury real estate held under fictitious names and linked to the network.

What this means for markets and compliance

One notable finding from the investigation is that Shamkhani’s operation appears to have no connection to cryptocurrency or blockchain infrastructure. No crypto tokens, no DeFi protocols, no stablecoin flows have been linked to the network. In this case, the traditional financial system, shell companies, correspondent banking, and physical commodity shipping did the heavy lifting. The risk lived in trade documentation and corporate registries, not on-chain.