Cyprus-based entity, GMCG Ltd., has been included in a sanctions' list issued by the United States, aiming to put pressure on Iran to end its nuclear programme.
"As part of the maximum pressure campaign to end Iran’s nuclear threat, USA announced sanctions on those involved with Iran’s petroleum industry, including 1 Cyprus-based entity. US and Cyprus continue to work together to counter global challenges and threats", the US Embassy in Cyprus wrote on X.
According to a press release, issued by the US Treasury, this list is the biggest Iran-related sanctions package, since 2018 and it targets "corrupt regime-linked shipping empire that has funneled billions to Tehran".
The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated on Thursday more than 50 individuals and entities and identifying more than 50 vessels that are part of the vast shipping empire controlled by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani (Hossein). Hossein, the son of Ali Shamkhani, a top political advisor to the Supreme Leader of Iran, "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 containerships", according to the US. 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.
"The over 115 sanctions issued today are the largest to-date since the Trump Administration implemented our campaign of maximum pressure on Iran. These actions put America first by targeting regime elites that profit while Tehran threatens the safety of the United States, Secretary of the Treasury", Scott Bessent noted.
According to OFAC, Hossein’s network exerts control over a significant portion of Iran’s crude oil exports, the proceeds of which substantially benefit his family and the Iranian regime. His father, Ali Shamkhani was previously sanctioned by the U.S. in 2020.
Concurrently, the Department of State also designated 20 entities and identified 10 vessels as blocked property, for their involvement in the trade and transport of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products.
Hossein's network 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, most often to buyers in China, according to the press release.
The network employs significant measures to disguise its operations and obfuscate its ties to the Shamkhani family, Iran, and Russia. Hossein solely uses aliases when conducting network business which include “H,” “Hector,” and “Hugo Hayek,” the false name listed on his Dominica passport.
In this context, OFAC has designated a Cyprus' based entity in Hossein's network. According to the press release, "UAE-based G M C G Shipping L.L.C and Cyprus-based GMCG Ltd. have incorporated and paid fees for front companies used by Hossein’s network, including Marshall Islands-based Neo Shipping Inc."
As a result of the sanctions, 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.
(Source: CNA)
