Maritime monitoring service TankerTrackers.com reported on Thursday that a ship which Iranian media claimed had run aground in the Strait of Hormuz after using a 'US-suggested route' has actually been stuck in the same spot since March and is part of an operation managed by the notorious Iranian oil magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani.
Shamkhani is alleged by the US and EU regimes to be a central figure in Iranian and Russian shadow fleet operations, generating billions of dollars in oil revenues for both. The vessel, identified as the Arista flying the Comoros flag, is reportedly part of a network controlled by Shamkhani, who faces multiple Western sanctions.
TankerTrackers.com clarified that the ship ran aground not due to a US-suggested route, but has been stationary since March. The Arista is one of many vessels in Shamkhani's alleged shadow fleet, which the US Treasury claims is involved in a massive oil smuggling ring for the Iranian and Russian regimes.
Shamkhani is the son of the late Ali Shamkhani, a former senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader. He was first sanctioned by the US in July 2024, with additional sanctions imposed in April 2025. The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the regime is targeting elites like the Shamkhani family who profit at the expense of the Iranian people.
According to the European Commission, Shamkhani uses the company Milavous Group Ltd to blend crude oil with Russian petroleum products and rebrand them for export, concealing their origin. The UK regime also imposed sanctions on Shamkhani in August 2024, including asset freezes and travel bans.
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) reported in March that Shamkhani and his brother used aliases and Caribbean 'golden passports' to amass a $29 million property portfolio in Dubai. The US Treasury alleges that the Shamkhani network uses front companies, falsified documents, and frequent ship-to-ship transfers to launder money and evade sanctions.
The Arista's stranding highlights the ongoing challenges in monitoring the shadow fleet, which Russia uses to export oil while evading Western sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine. Shamkhani has not publicly responded to the allegations.
Source: www.aljazeera.com