The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned a network of shipping companies and vessels led by Iraqi-Kittitian businessman Waleed Khaled Hameed al-Samarra’i for smuggling Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi oil.
According to Treasury, the network covertly blends Iranian oil with Iraqi oil and markets the mix as solely Iraqi to evade sanctions, generating “hundreds of millions of dollars” in revenue for the Iranian regime and for al-Samarra’i.
OFAC said the action builds on July 3, 2025 sanctions targeting the network of Salim Ahmed Said, which also smuggled blended Iraqi and Iranian oil.
The action is pursuant to Executive Order 13902, which targets those operating in sectors of the Iranian economy including petroleum and petrochemicals.
Al-Samarra’i, a citizen of both Iraq and St. Kitts & Nevis based in the United Arab Emirates, runs a network that “based on conservative estimates” generates around $300 million annually to Iran and its partners. He relies on two UAE-based companies, Babylon Navigation DMCC and Galaxy Oil FZ LLC. Babylon manages logistics and shipping, while Galaxy Oil is described as the main trader of al-Samarra’i’s energy products.
To smuggle Iranian-origin oil, al-Samarra’i uses vessels operated by Babylon — the Liberia-flagged ADENA, LILIANA, CAMILLA, DELFINA, BIANCA, ROBERTA, ALEXANDRA, BELLAGIO, and PAOLA — to blend Iranian and Iraqi oil at sea via ship-to-ship transfers in the Arabian Gulf and in Iraqi ports. Babylon manages and operates these vessels, while a set of Marshall Islands-based shell companies — Tryfo Navigation Inc., Keely Shiptrade Limited, Odiar Management S.A., Panarea Marine S.A., and Topsail Shipholding Inc. — serve as the registered owners.
Treasury said the network uses obfuscation techniques including transfers with U.S.-sanctioned vessels affiliated with Iran’s “shadow fleet,” unsafe ship-to-ship transfers at night, Automated Identification System (AIS) spoofing, and gaps in AIS reporting.