Economic Fury Targets Iranian LPG Smuggling and Shadow Banking Networks | U.S. Department of the Treasury

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FREEDOM250 Countdown to America's 250th Anniversary July 4, 2026 Learn More Press Releases Economic Fury Targets Iranian LPG Smuggling and Shadow Banking Networks June 5, 2026 WASHINGTON —Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating a network of individuals, entities, and vessels responsible for shipping hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian-origin liquid petroleum gas (LPG)⸺intentionally disguised as Omani LPG⸺to end users in South and East Asia.  The network used front companies in the United Arab Emirates and China, foreign bank accounts, and Iran’s shadow fleet to move millions of barrels of Iranian LPG while concealing its Iranian origin and evading U.S. sanctions.  OFAC is taking this action to expose the complicit actors enabling an economic lifeline for Iran while exploiting commercial infrastructure to obfuscate their actions. “Iran’s economy is floundering and its military is decimated,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Through Economic Fury, Treasury will continue to sever Iran’s shadow fleet, shadow banking networks, and access to global trade.” OFAC is also taking action today against Iranian exchange house Mehrdad Geramian Nik and Partners Company and its leadership, who have moved hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign currency on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks. Iran’s foreign exchange system relies heavily on selected brokers and rahbar companies, which use overseas shell and front companies to conceal Iranian connections, bypass sanctions, and move funds through accounts typically held outside Iran on behalf of Iranian bank customers.  Collectively, Iranian exchange houses facilitate billions of dollars in foreign currency transactions each year, enabling the regime and its armed forces to evade sanctions, abuse the international financial system, and move funds derived from oil and petrochemical sales.  OFAC has recently taken multiple actions to dismantle Iran’s network of brokers, including against Radin Exchange, Arz Iran Exchange, Opal Exchange , and Amin Exchange .  Today’s actions further restrict the Iranian regime’s access to revenue it uses to develop weapons, support terrorist proxies, and enrich regime insiders abroad at the expense of the Iranian people. The Treasury Department remains committed to maintaining maximum pressure on Iran and to targeting the regime’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds.  Today’s action is being taken pursuant to E.O. 13902, which targets persons operating in Iran’s financial and petroleum sectors.  These designations will advance Treasury’s Economic Fury and build on a series of OFAC actions targeting Iran’s shadow banking and petroleum sales networks . ECONOMIC FURY DELIVERS MAXIMUM PRESSURE ON IRAN The Treasury Department is maintaining maximum pressure on Iran and targeting the regime’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds.  Treasury is aggressively advancing Economic Fury and has disrupted tens of billions of dollars’ worth of revenue from being otherwise accessible to the Iranian regime and its proxies.  This includes actions that have led to the freezing of nearly half a billion dollars in regime-linked cryptocurrency.  In addition, Treasury has cracked down on Tehran’s global shadow banking networks; designated networks supplying weapons and other military components to Iran; sanctioned a corrupt Iraqi official who has facilitated the sale of oil along with Iran-backed militias operating in Iraq; taken numerous actions against Iran’s terrorist proxies; and targeted shadow fleet vessels, companies, and other entities that sustain Iran’s illicit oil industry. Through the blockade, the Trump Administration is directly targeting the regime’s primary revenue stream.  Any person or vessel facilitating the illicit trade of oil or other commodities, through covert trade or financial channels, risks exposure to U.S. sanctions. Treasury will continue to vigorously target both traditional sanctions evasion schemes and the exploitation of digital assets while continuing to freeze funds stolen from the Iranian people.  Treasury is also prepared to take action against any foreign company supporting illicit Iranian commerce, including airlines , and, as necessary, may impose secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that facilitate Iran’s activities. Additionally, Treasury recently designated an Iranian entity that is trying to extort commercial vessels for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, and Treasury continues to target Iran’s military exports that generates revenue to support the regime’s aggression in the region. LPG EXPORTERS Afghani national Sarbaz Abdul Zada and Turkish national Mohammad Shakol Mihandoust (Mihandoust), also known as Haji Shakoor, operate a network of front companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) responsible for exporting millions of barrels of Iranian LPG to end users across South and East Asia, often falsely identifying it as Omani LPG as a means to evade sanctions.  UAE-based front companies Butani Trading LLC , Dundlod Trading FZE , and ADH Energy FZE operate in furtherance of this scheme.  Butani Trading LLC has shipped tens of thousands of metric tons of Iranian LPG, worth tens of millions of dollars, to South Asia. In March 2026, ADH Energy FZE was used to sell and export millions of barrels of Iranian LPG to end users in Bangladesh.  OFAC identified as blocked property the vessel behind one such shipment in April 2026, the LPG SEVAN , which was responsible for transporting 750,000 barrels of LPG to Bangladesh between August and November 2025. In October 2025 Dundlod Trading FZE delivered 22,000 metric tons of LPG to Bangladesh worth approximately 10.5 million USD also using the LPG SEVAN.  In May 2025 Dundlod Trading FZE also delivered multiple shipments of LPG to Bangladesh using the GAS ZEINA , which has transported Iranian origin LPG to Bangladesh since 2024.  Abdul Zada has similarly used UAE-based Sahel Star Oil and Gas Company LLC to ship Iranian LPG in the past. OFAC is additionally designating China-based Shanghai Qianye Energy Co., Ltd. (Shanghai Qianye), which is owned and operated by Mihandoust. Sarbaz Abdul Zada, Mohammad Shakol Mihandoust, Butani Trading LLC, Dundlod Trading FZE, and ADH Energy FZE are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13902 for operating in the petroleum sector of the Iranian economy.  Sahel Star Oil and Gas Company LLC and Shanghai Qianye Energy Co., Ltd. are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13902 for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Sarbaz Abdul Zada and Mohammad Shakol Mihandoust, respectively. Abdul Zada and Mihandoust rely on Iran’s shadow fleet of vessels to illicitly transport Iranian LPG to foreign markets. The following vessels have transported tens of millions of barrels of Iranian LPG, many on behalf of Abdul Zada and Mihandoust’s network and are thus being added to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) as property in which a blocked person has an interest, as detailed below: The Palau-flagged LPG tanker MD 23 (IMO 9158240), which is owned, managed, and operated by Marshall Islands-based Limra Gas Limited , has transported hundreds of thousands of barrels of Iranian LPG since 2023. The Panama-flagged LPG tanker GLENDALE (IMO 9139945), which is owned by Liberia-based Ecoseas Maritime Limited , has transported millions of barrels of Iranian LPG since 2020. The St. Kitts and Nevis-flagged LPG tanker AMIR GAS (IMO 9167409), which is owned, managed, and operated by Marshall Islands-based Blue Sea Marine Incorporated And Faateh Maritime Incorporated , has transported hundreds of thousands of barrels of Iranian LPG since 2025. The Panama-flagged LPG tanker GAS LAGOON (IMO 9386304), which is owned, managed, and operated by Marshall Islands-based Adamas Shipping Inc , has transported millions of barrels of Iranian LPG since 2023. The Panama-flagged LPG tanker MILE (IMO 8910897), which is owned by Marshall Islands-based Black Gold Trade Corporation , has transported millions of barrels of Iranian LPG since 2024.  In early 2025, Butani Trading L.L.C used the MILE to ship over half a million barrels of Iranian-origin LPG to end users in Bangladesh. The Panama-flagged LPG tanker GAZ GMS (IMO 9131539), which is owned by Marshall Islands-based Gas GMS Limited , has transported hundreds of thousands of barrels of Iranian LPG since 2023. The following persons are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13902 for operating in the petroleum sector of the Iranian economy: Limra Gas Limited; Ecoseas Maritime Limited; Blue Sea Marine Incorporated And Faateh Maritime Incorporated; Adamas Shipping Inc; Black Gold Trade Corporation; and Gas GMS Limited EXCHANGE HOUSE Iran’s foreign exchange transactions occur primarily using selected brokers as intermediaries; these brokers rely on rahbar companies that in turn work with overseas shell and front companies to obfuscate the Iranian connection and bypass sanctions. The broker provides an account typically outside of Iran in which the deposited funds belong to the Iranian bank customer.  Once the funds are deposited into the designated broker accounts, the broker then acts in accordance with their bank customers’ instructions. Iran-based exchange house Mehrdad Geramian Nik and Partners Company (Geramian Exchange) has entered into contracts with sanctioned Iranian banks Bank Tejarat , Bank Mellat , and Bank Pasargad .  Over the last several years, Geramian Exchange has facilitated transactions moving hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign currency on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks, and as of early 2026, Geramian Exchange held tens of millions of dollars’ worth of foreign currency on behalf of its sanctioned Iranian bank customers.  The family-run exchange house is operated by Iranian nationals Mehrdad Geramian Nik and Romina Geramian Nik .  Like many of his peers, Mehrdad Geramian Nik also maintains foreign citizenship in Dominica, a convenience often obtained through citizenship-by-investment programs which enable Iran’s shadow banking actors to travel overseas, establish new companies, and access international banking networks. Mehrdad Geramian Nik and Partners Company is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13902 for operating in the financial sector of the Iranian economy.  Mehrdad Geramian Nik and Romina Geramian Nik are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13902 for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Mehrdad Geramian Nik and Partners Company. SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS All property and interests in property of the 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 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. Violations of U.S. sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons.  OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis.  OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions.   The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated or blocked person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.  Non-U.S. persons are also prohibited from causing or conspiring to cause U.S. persons to wittingly or unwittingly violate U.S. sanctions, as well as engaging in conduct that evades U.S. sanctions.  Individuals located in the U.S. or abroad who provide information about sanctions violations to FinCEN’s whistleblower incentive program may be eligible for awards if the information they provide leads to a successful enforcement action that results in monetary penalties exceeding $1,000,000.  In addition, financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving designated or otherwise blocked persons. The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law.  The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior.  For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, or to submit a request, please refer to OFAC’s guidance on Filing a Petition for Removal from an OFAC List . Click here for more information on the persons designated and any property identified as blocked property today . 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