Bloomberg: Hossein Shamakani and Members of His Network Have Acquired Citizenship from Three Foreign Countries

Bloomberg has reported that Hossein Shamakani, the son of a senior advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, has obtained citizenship from Dominica, a Caribbean nation. This American media outlet, which has published several detailed investigative reports on Shamakani's oil and business empire in recent months, claims that a group of Iranians, including Shamakani, who 'secretly leads a commercial empire conducting oil and strategic arms transactions for Tehran and Moscow,' has managed to acquire new passports through Dominica's citizenship by investment program. Bloomberg, which spoke with over '40 knowledgeable individuals' and conducted research for about a year, states that Shamakani and members of this business network have changed their names in Dominica to make identification more difficult. Radio Farda cannot independently verify the claims made in this report. According to the report, members of Shamakani's network have gained access to financial markets worldwide, from Geneva and London to Dubai and Singapore, while concealing their Iranian backgrounds. Bloomberg notes that Shamakani has been able to connect with major oil companies and traders and bankers under the alias 'Hector' in Dubai. The report states that the son of the former Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran returned to Iran after studying in Moscow and Beirut, obtaining a master's degree in business management. Encouraged by his father, he ventured into the private sector and established the 'Admiral' trading company with his brother Hassan. However, due to his father's position, his nationality, and the global sanctions imposed on Iran, Hossein sought citizenship from another country and successfully obtained a passport from the small nation of Dominica, with a population of 70,000, by paying through the investment scheme. A crucial point for Hossein Shamakani was that he did not need to be present in Dominica to obtain this passport, as all arrangements were made remotely through a private broker in Dubai. Bloomberg reports that sources with direct knowledge of the case have indicated that Shamakani and several of his close associates have not only received passports from this country but have also changed their names. However, with increasing scrutiny from banks worldwide, Shamakani's network decided to use their Dominican identity documents to obtain another passport from European countries, including Malta and Cyprus. Bloomberg does not explicitly state whether Hossein Shamakani personally received citizenship from another country such as Malta or Cyprus, but it indicates that he and his team have exploited this process as a group. With these different identity documents, Hossein Shamakani and his network have been able to bypass many of the filters and restrictions imposed and gain access to the largest international financial markets. According to Bloomberg's report, in addition to Hossein Shamakani, others such as Alireza Derakhshan, known as 'Captain D,' who closely collaborates with Milavous Group Ltd, Mahdiar Zareh Mojtahedi, a senior executive at Ocean Leonid Investments, and Hossein Ghorbanizadeh, a senior associate at Golden Nest Group, who has assisted Shamakani in establishing global banking relations, have also managed to acquire Dominican citizenship through this route. In the UK, Zareh and Ghorbanizadeh are both listed as Dominican nationals in company registration documents, while Derakhshan's name is also registered as a Dominican citizen in a Turkish business registry. However, Bloomberg states that none of these documents mention their Iranian citizenship. Bloomberg further notes that over the past decade, Shamakani's business empire has become a significant global player in the commodities sector. Billions of dollars from oil wealth pass through his network each year, disappearing in a maze of bank accounts, offshore companies, and luxury real estate. Reports have emerged of challenges facing this business empire in recent years. In 2020, Ali Shamakani was sanctioned, and the Admiral company owned by his children came under increased scrutiny. The United States recently sanctioned about 12 ships in his network, and concerns over further actions have led Shamakani to withdraw substantial amounts from his investment funds and invest them in luxury real estate on exclusive islands in Dubai. Bloomberg states that in recent weeks, the 'Dubai International Financial Centre' has suspended the activities of several companies in Shamakani's network, and the investment fund of this network has become the subject of an investigation by the U.S. Treasury Department. Additionally, according to 'informed sources' cited by Bloomberg, the U.S. Treasury has increased its sanctions against certain ships and companies in Shamakani's network in recent months. The sanctions against Iran have provided opportunities for trusted regime actors like Ali Shamakani to follow a path similar to Babak Zanjani, achieving substantial personal income while selling sanctioned Iranian oil. In about three weeks, a new president will take office in the United States, whose approach towards Iran remains uncertain. On one hand, he has appointed individuals who believe in the continuation of the 'maximum pressure strategy' against Iran and argue that stricter sanctions will deprive Iran of its revenues. On the other hand, Donald Trump himself has repeatedly expressed his desire for dialogue and agreement with Iranian officials during his pre-election campaign.