US expands network of sanctions against Iranian oil tycoons, Wellbred Group multinational entities are blacklisted

The Zhitong Finance App learned that the Trump administration expanded sanctions against Iranian oil trader Hossein Shamkhani (Hossein Shamkhani)'s huge commercial network and blacklisted several entities of its Wellbred commodities trading group. This move is part of a package of US measures aimed at completely isolating Iran.

According to an announcement issued by the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Monday, the sanctions involve Singapore-registered Wellbred Capital Pte. Ltd., Wellbred Trading FzCo in the UAE, and WellBred Trading SA in Switzerland. Also named is La Nivernaise de Raffinage SAS, a French edible oil refinery, which allegedly belongs to the Wellbred Group.

The Ministry of Finance stated in a statement: “Shamhani built Wellbred as an overseas company independent of its Iranian business, but he himself bears ultimate responsibility for Wellbred's operations.”

Washington has previously imposed sanctions on Shamhani and other companies within his network. Shamkhani is the son of the late Ali Shamkhani (Ali Shamkhani), a senior Iranian security official.

As of press time, Wellbred entities in Singapore have not responded to phone or email requests for comment; UAE and Swiss entities have also not responded to inquiries during non-working hours.

On the same day, the US announced a new round of sanctions against dozens of entities. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (Scott Bessent) said that the US side is focusing on Iran's “five most critical lifeblood”, covering the fields of digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping.

Bezent also warned that a large financial institution linked to Iran would be sanctioned within this week, but did not disclose specific targets.