U.S. sanctions oil trader Wellbred over Iran links

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U.S. President Donald Trump gestures aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, during a visit to U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base in Yokosuka, Japan. File | Photo Credit: Reuters

The United States imposed sanctions on Singapore -based Wellbred Capital and ​its trading firms in the United Arab Emirates ‌and Switzerland, citing links with Iran, as ​it steps up measures ⁠to target Tehran’s global financial links.

The company had ties to Iranian oil shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, ‌the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said on its ‌website on Monday (August 24, 2026).

“Mr. Shamkhani built Wellbred as ‌a company outside the network’s Iranian business, ⁠though he is ultimately responsible for Wellbred’s operations,” it added in a statement outlining the measures targeting ​nearly 60 companies, ‌individuals and ships.

Also sanctioned were Dubai-based Wellbred Trading FZCO, Wellbred Trading SA ‌in Geneva and its French ​biofuels refinery La Nivernaise de Raffinage SAS.

With headquarters in Singapore, Wellbred trades ⁠in oil, naphtha, petrochemicals and liquefied petroleum gas and has offices in the United ‌Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, it says on its website.

OFAC had previously designated individuals, entities and vessels forming part of a vast shipping empire controlled by Mr. Shamkhani in July 2025 and April ‌2026.

‘Economic D-Day’: U.S. threatens Iran with new sanctions, Tehran fires back

“Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of the now-deceased senior Iranian security official Ali Shamkhani, operates a massive fleet of tankers and containerships,” OFAC had said.

“The network ferries oil and petroleum ⁠products from Iran and Russia, as well as other cargo, to buyers ‌around the world, generating profits running into tens of billions of dollars,” OFAC ​added.

USA / Iran / oil and gas - upstream activities / oil and gas - downstream activities / Singapore / West Asia / United Arab Emirates

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