The U.S. Department of the Treasury has sanctioned a vast oil smuggling network accused of disguising Iranian oil as Iraqi oil to avoid sanctions and generate huge profits for Tehran.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced action against Waleed Khaled Hameed al-Samarra’i, a United Arab Emirates–based businessman holding dual citizenship in Iraq and St. Kitts & Nevis.
According to Treasury findings, his network has secretly mixed Iranian oil with Iraqi oil and sold it abroad as if it were only of Iraqi origin. The scheme has reportedly generated hundreds of millions of dollars, with estimates of about $300 million a year for Iran and al-Samarra’i’s partners.
Officials said al-Samarra’i depends on two companies in the UAE to run his operations. Babylon Navigation DMCC (Babylon) manages the logistics and shipping, while Galaxy Oil FZ LLC (Galaxy Oil) acts as the main trader selling the blended oil on the global market.
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