Sanctions evasion — the "ghost fleet" and shadow banking
How Iran keeps selling oil under sanctions: a shadow tanker fleet, front companies, relabeled cargoes, and money-laundering networks.
How to read this
Every claim below is labelled by evidentiary strength.
Documented = primary document or multiple credible outlets.
Official sanction = a government designation exists — a designation, not a court conviction.
Estimated = a credible estimate (estimator named).
Alleged / contested = reported but disputed or unproven.
Estimated
Iran exported roughly 587 million barrels of oil in 2024 (about 1.6M barrels/day), earning an estimated $43–47 billion despite US sanctions — near pre-sanctions highs.
Sources:
UANI, "Iran's Oil Exports and Shipping Activities" • gCaptain (2025) • PressTV via GlobalSecurity (2025)
Estimated
Iran moves its oil on a "ghost fleet" of aging tankers; United Against Nuclear Iran tracked roughly 477 such vessels by end-2024, up from about 300 in 2022.
OFAC has sanctioned more than 180 tankers tied to Iranian petroleum shipping under the 2025 "maximum pressure" campaign, targeting the shadow fleet directly.
Sources:
US Treasury press releases sb0405, sb0341, sb0026 (2025)
Official sanction
OFAC designated Sepehr Energy — a front company for Iran's Armed Forces General Staff — for selling millions of barrels worth billions of dollars to Chinese refineries.
Sources:
US Department of State (2025) • US Treasury (2025) • FDD (2025)
Documented
Iranian oil is systematically relabeled as "Malaysian blend" with falsified documents en route to China — a core deception FinCEN flagged to US banks in 2025.
OFAC sanctioned a 30-plus-entity "shadow banking" network run by the Zarringhalam brothers that laundered billions for Iran's oil and petrochemical exporters and military.
Sources:
US Treasury press release sb0159 (2025) • US Department of State (2025)
Official sanction
OFAC has repeatedly sanctioned the IRGC-Quds Force "Sa'id al-Jamal" oil-smuggling network, including TRON cryptocurrency wallets that received nearly $900 million in stablecoins.
Sources:
US Treasury/OFAC designation under E.O. 13224 (2021) • US Treasury press release sb0188
Editorial note. Artesh reports designations, estimates and allegations by their evidentiary strength and never presents a sanction as a conviction or an estimate as an audited figure. Corrections are made promptly; if you can add or correct a sourced fact, contact us.