Washington Targets Entities in Hong Kong, UAE, and Türkiye Supporting Iran’s Oil Trade and Terror Financing
July 9, 2025 – Washington, D.C. — In a major escalation of its campaign to disrupt Iran’s illicit financial networks, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned 22 companies across Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Türkiye. These entities were identified as key facilitators in a complex shadow banking operation designed to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars from Iranian oil sales to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
The IRGC-QF, the foreign arm of the IRGC and a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), allegedly uses a sprawling web of front companies and offshore accounts to evade sanctions, finance weapons programs, and support proxy militias across the Middle East.
Funding Terror Through Oil
According to the Treasury, Iranian oil is sold to refineries through seemingly legitimate business channels. Payments for these transactions are then transferred through a global maze of front companies that eventually deliver the proceeds into accounts controlled by the IRGC-QF.
“Iran’s regime relies heavily on its shadow banking system to fund its destabilizing nuclear and ballistic missile programs—activities that do not benefit the Iranian people,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “Treasury remains focused on dismantling this covert financial infrastructure that enables Iran to threaten the U.S. and its allies.”
The move is part of ongoing efforts under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorism. It also marks the second wave of sanctions aimed at dismantling Iran’s shadow banking network since the White House issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 2, which directed maximum pressure on the Iranian regime.
The Network: Entities and Transactions
Among the 22 designated entities are several that played a central role in handling payments for IRGC-QF oil sales:
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Pulcular Enerji Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (Türkiye): Purchased multiple shipments of Iranian oil in coordination with IRGC-QF and Hizballah affiliates. Used both wire transfers and cash couriers.
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Amito Trading Limited and Peakway Global Limited (Hong Kong): Facilitated oil payments to the IRGC-QF.
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JTU Energy Limited: Used as a cover for the sanctioned Iranian Gardeshghari Bank to channel funds from LPG sales to Hizballah and Pakistani buyers.
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Shelf Trading Limited and Cetto International Limited: Assisted in transferring payments from Pulcular Enerji to IRGC-QF accounts.
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Future Resource Trading Limited, Moon Imp & Exp Co., and Radix Trade Limited: Enabled oil and petrochemical transactions amounting to tens of millions of dollars.
Direct IRGC-QF Involvement
The Treasury revealed that senior IRGC-QF officials, including the now-deceased Behnam Shahriyari, directly managed financial operations using companies like Ventus Trade Limited and Marmerth Limited. These entities were used to channel millions in oil profits to the National Iranian Oil Company, another sanctioned regime entity.
Several other Hong Kong-based companies, such as Queens Ring Limited, Star OilGlobal Limited, GAH Petrochemical Trading Limited, Mist Trading Co., and Metallex Limited, were instrumental in laundering funds and disguising their origins.
UAE and Türkiye Links
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Bright Spot Goods Wholesalers L.L.C. (UAE) and Golden Globe Demir Celik Petrol Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (Türkiye) were both cited for managing significant oil revenues on behalf of the IRGC. Golden Globe allegedly managed annual oil sales worth hundreds of millions of dollars, using multiple tankers including URI, LUNA PRIME, ETERNAL PEACE, and TITAN—all now subject to sanctions.
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Enka Trading Limited, a previously designated entity, facilitated massive cash flows to Finesse Global Trading Limited and Lavida Corporation Limited, with the latter handling over $100 million in IRGC-QF-linked transactions.
Sanctions Implications
Following this action, all U.S.-based assets or assets under U.S. control belonging to the designated entities are frozen. Furthermore, any company owned 50% or more by sanctioned individuals or firms is also subject to blocking measures. U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with these entities unless specifically licensed by OFAC.
Violations can result in civil or criminal penalties under U.S. law, and foreign financial institutions could face secondary sanctions if they continue to conduct significant transactions with the designated firms. OFAC warned that these prohibitions include the provision or receipt of any goods, services, or funds to or from sanctioned parties.
Broader Strategy
This latest action underscores the Trump administration’s continued effort to curtail Iran’s destabilizing activities, particularly in the aftermath of the recent regional conflict. It also reflects a broader push to expose and dismantle financial mechanisms that enable the regime to bypass international sanctions while supporting terrorist proxies like Hizballah.
The Treasury emphasized that this operation is part of a wider campaign to pressure Iran economically, while sending a message to the international financial sector: doing business with Iran’s shadow entities carries serious legal and financial risks.
