URANUS

On July 30, 2025, the United States imposed sanctions on the vessel for engaging in activities conducted on behalf of Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani.
Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani is the son of Ali Shamkhani, the chief political advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader. Leveraging his father’s political influence, Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani has corrupted senior Iranian regime officials to build and operate a vast fleet of tankers and container ships. This fleet transports oil and petroleum products from Iran and russia, as well as other cargoes, to customers worldwide, generating tens of billions of dollars in profit.
His shipping network comprises a large fleet of vessels, ship management companies, and front entities that launder billions of dollars in proceeds from global sales of Iranian and russian crude oil and petroleum products, primarily to buyers in China. The network takes extensive measures to conceal its operations and obscure its connections to the Shamkhani family, Iran, and russia.
Many tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil to countries such as China are also involved in Venezuelan trade, including tanker IMO 9248485. On June 11, 2022, Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi signed a 20-year cooperation agreement to expand ties in the oil and petrochemical industries, as well as in the military and economic spheres. Since then, bilateral ties have begun to develop. Most cargo is transported by ships belonging to the sanctioned National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) in both directions. A significant number of ships flying under foreign (non-Iranian) flags are also involved in this trade.