Treasury designates network facilitating Iranian LPG smuggling to Asia

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control just took a sledgehammer to a smuggling network that had been quietly shipping Iranian liquefied petroleum gas across Asia while pretending it came from Oman. The designations, announced on June 5, target individuals, front companies, and six LPG tankers that collectively generated hundreds of millions in revenue for Iran’s petroleum sector.

The action falls under the broader “Economic Fury” campaign, Washington’s escalating initiative to choke off Iran’s ability to monetize its energy exports through deceptive workarounds.

How the smuggling network operated

The scheme worked by disguising Iranian-origin LPG as Omani product. Tankers would load up with Iranian gas, swap the paperwork to say it came from Oman, and sell it to buyers across Asia. False documentation made the cargo look legitimate at every checkpoint.

OFAC identified two key individuals at the center of the operation. Sarbaz Abdul Zada and Mohammad Shakol Mihandoust, also known as Haji Shakoor, allegedly orchestrated the logistics and financial flows that kept the network running. Their connections span Afghanistan, Turkey, the UAE, and China.

The corporate side of the network includes Butani Trading LLC, Dundlod Trading FZE, ADH Energy FZE, Shanghai Qianye Energy Co., Ltd., and Sahel Star Oil and Gas Company LLC. These entities operated as front companies, primarily based in the UAE and China.

Six LPG tankers were also sanctioned, four of which flew Panama flags. The most notable vessel, the LPG SEVAN, was tied to a shipment of 750,000 barrels of LPG delivered to Bangladesh between August and November 2025.

The Economic Fury campaign and its expanding reach

By targeting entities in the UAE, China, Afghanistan, and Turkey simultaneously, OFAC is signaling that it’s willing to pursue the full supply chain, not just the Iranian exporters but the intermediaries, the logistics providers, and the financial facilitators who make evasion possible.

What this means for crypto and digital asset markets

For crypto firms, the compliance implications are concrete. Any exchange, OTC desk, or payment processor that inadvertently touches funds connected to designated entities or individuals faces serious legal exposure. The wallet addresses associated with sanctioned parties, once published by OFAC, become radioactive. Platforms that fail to screen against them risk enforcement actions of their own.

OFAC’s reach extends well beyond US borders. Companies designated in the UAE and China are now effectively cut off from the US financial system, and any person or entity that facilitates transactions with them faces secondary sanctions risk.

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