By GMM News | 2025-09-09 | International Shipping News |

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on a complex network of shipping companies and vessels led by Iraqi-Kittitian businessman Waleed al-Samarra’i for smuggling Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi product.

According to Treasury officials, the network primarily operates by covertly blending Iranian oil with Iraqi oil, which is then deliberately marketed as solely Iraqi in origin to circumvent international sanctions. This operation has reportedly generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for both the Iranian regime and al-Samarra’i.

“Iraq cannot become a safe haven for terrorists, which is why the United States is working to counter Iran’s influence in the country,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “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”.

Al-Samarra’i, a dual citizen of Iraq and St. Kitts & Nevis, manages his operation from the United Arab Emirates through two companies: Babylon Navigation DMCC, which handles logistics and shipping, and Galaxy Oil FZ LLC, which markets the energy products globally.

Treasury officials estimate the network generates approximately $300 million annually for Iran and its partners.

The smuggling operation employs sophisticated methods, including a fleet of nine Liberia-flagged vessels—ADENA, LILIANA, CAMILLA, DELFINA, BIANCA, ROBERTA, ALEXANDRA, BELLAGIO, and PAOLA—to blend Iranian and Iraqi oil at sea through ship-to-ship transfers in the Arabian Gulf and at Iraqi ports.

To conceal their activities, these vessels engage in ship-to-ship transfers with U.S.-sanctioned vessels from Iran’s shadow fleet, and employ deceptive practices such as conducting transfers at night, AIS spoofing, and creating gaps in location reporting.

The sanctions build on OFAC’s July 3 action against Salim Ahmed Said’s network, which employed similar tactics to smuggle blended Iraqi and Iranian oil.

As a result of these sanctions, all property and interests of the designated persons within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.