Tehran Diplomacy: UAE Defends Iranian Oil Trader from US Sanctions
Bloomberg Reveals UAE Protects Iranian Oil Trader from US Sanctions in Exchange for Rapprochement with Tehran
The international agency Bloomberg has revealed that UAE authorities are protecting an Iranian oil trader from US sanctions in return for closer ties with Tehran and efforts to curb attacks by the Houthi group, Ansar Allah.
According to the agency, Hossein Shamkhani leveraged “citizenship-by-investment” programs to access the international banking system—a position he maintained through connections in both the UAE and Washington.
Along a winding road by the palm-lined beaches of Dominica stands a series of unfinished luxury hotels. A few miles north lies the future site of Portsmouth Marina—a project aimed at attracting luxury yachts to the island.
These projects reflect Dominica’s decades-old bet on its “citizenship-by-investment” (CBI) program, which offers passports to foreigners in exchange for large sums of money. This program has brought billions of dollars into the Caribbean nation’s economy while offering easy secondary citizenship to individuals whose backgrounds may raise red flags in the financial world.
Among the beneficiaries of this program is Iranian Hossein Shamkhani, the covert leader of a business empire facilitating strategic oil and arms deals for Tehran and Moscow, according to sources familiar with the matter who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of these operations.
Shamkhani and his team’s acquisition of Dominican documents was part of a series of moves that enabled Iranians to gain broad acceptance, including from Wall Street banks and major Western oil companies. Shamkhani, whose father is a senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has worked to keep his business dealings under wraps.
An Empire Rooted in Western Financial Systems
This story is based on interviews with over 50 individuals familiar with Shamkhani’s network and findings from a year-long investigation. It outlines how Shamkhani integrated his empire’s companies into the fabric of Western financial systems, even as key entities within his network handled Iranian weapons shipments to Russia.
His operations span from London to Geneva, Dubai, and Singapore, securing ties with some of the largest names in global finance. A lawyer representing Shamkhani, who has consistently denied Bloomberg’s reports on his activities, did not respond to specific questions for this story.
The narrative involves countries like Malta and Cyprus, popular destinations for citizenship-by-investment, senior UAE officials, a prominent lobbying firm near the US Treasury Department in Washington, and a covert logistics network moving billions of dollars in Iranian and Russian oil across the oceans.
The Origins of Shamkhani
Shamkhani was born in Tehran a few years after the Iranian Revolution and grew up during the Iran-Iraq War. His father held various high-level government roles—from a naval commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to Minister of Defense—before becoming Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
Encouraged by his father, Shamkhani pursued a private-sector career. After studying in Moscow and Beirut, he returned to Iran to earn an MBA before founding Admiral Group, a trading company, with his brother Hassan, named in homage to their father’s naval rank.
In Dubai, located across the Persian Gulf and home to a large Iranian community, Shamkhani found a suitable base for his operations. However, due to his father’s positions and his nationality, Shamkhani was viewed as a politically exposed figure with ties to sanctioned entities—raising red flags for most major banks.
Dominica offered a solution. The small nation, roughly the size of New York City and home to about 70,000 residents, has operated one of the world’s most flexible citizenship-by-investment programs since the early 1990s.
According to Kristin Surak, a professor at the London School of Economics, the program does not require physical presence, with deals often facilitated by private intermediaries in Dubai.
For a fee, Shamkhani and several associates obtained Dominican passports, according to sources familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by Bloomberg.
However, this was not sufficient. Many banks require a secondary source of identification as part of basic “Know Your Customer” guidelines, and Iranian IDs were not adequate. To address this, Shamkhani and his team used Dominican documents to obtain additional passports from European Union countries like Malta and Cyprus.
With multiple identities and alternative nationalities, Shamkhani’s network successfully passed compliance checks at some of the largest names in international finance.
Global Expansion
Shamkhani’s business empire grew significantly over the past decade, with billions of dollars in oil revenues flowing through his network annually, disappearing into a labyrinth of bank accounts, offshore companies, and luxury real estate.
In Dubai, he utilized family connections when needed while adopting a new alias, “Hector,” when dealing with bankers.
In January 2020, US sanctions targeting his father added a new layer of challenge. This prompted Shamkhani to withdraw substantial funds from his investment portfolios to purchase luxury properties, primarily in exclusive developments in Dubai.
Shamkhani benefited from Emirati support, as some UAE officials opposed US sanctions against him due to his father’s role in improving Tehran-Abu Dhabi relations.
He orchestrated a political influence campaign targeting Western officials to maintain his business operations, relying on firms like Corvis for lobbying and consultation services to ease pressure on his companies.
However, in recent weeks, several of Shamkhani’s businesses in Dubai have been suspended, and US investigations have zeroed in on his financial network. With the arrival of the new Trump administration, harsher sanctions are expected.
