“Shippers are certainly not the only players involved here, with a new set of documents shedding light on how bankers are also facilitating the global Iranian oil trade. »
They suggest that payments totaling millions of dollars, involving both the Victor 1 and the four ships whose cargoes were seized, were managed by Eurobank Ergasias. Headquartered in Athens, it is one of the largest banks in Greece, with assets worth $100 billion.
I asked the bank if it was aware that the payments it handled were linked to Iranian oil, what due diligence checks it had carried out, and whether it continued to do business with Gialozoglou after its ships were seized . Its spokesperson declined to respond, saying “it is our policy” not to comment on specific customer relationships. The bank, it continued, was committed to meeting “all applicable legal and regulatory standards” and had “rigorous compliance frameworks” to ensure all transactions were “monitored”.
Eurobank Ergasias is not the only bank involved here. The documents cover several other transactions over the 2019-23 period, each worth millions of dollars and involving everything from leasing a drilling rig to shipments of Iranian oil products from Bandar Abbas. The specifics encompass a complex mix of energy companies and financial institutions: but many are ultimately linked to Kuwait Finance House (KFH), partially owned by the Kuwaiti government and one of the world’s most important Islamic banks. I have approached Kuwait Finance House, as well as the other institutions and banks named in the documents, attaching the relevant papers in my emails. None of them responded.
In theory, of course, the Americans have several ways of tackling sanctions evasion. Beyond seizing affected vessels or their cargoes — as they did with these Venezuela-bound vessels in 2020 — they can also impose what are called “secondary sanctions.” That means imposing sanctions on any company or individual trading oil with Iran, freezing their assets in the United States, and fining or prosecuting any American citizen doing business with them.
In theory, again, the rules here are strict: One sanctions expert tells me that simply pricing transactions involving Iranian oil in U.S. dollars could make a foreign company or bank “easy prey” if Trump chose to reinstate its “maximum pressure” campaign.
However, as the documents clearly show, the gap between theory and practice is vast. Aside from industry tricks — fake manifestos and tangled ownership networks — International Marine Services has never been subject to U.S. sanctions. Neither does Eurobank Ergasias, which is also true for the other entities mentioned in the documents.
It’s not that the situation is hopeless. In recent months, the Biden administration has attempted to prevent Iran from selling black oil. In October, for example, it sanctioned 10 overseas transportation and energy companies, based in countries including the United Arab Emirates and Liberia. Earlier this month, it added 35 more “entities and vessels” to its sanctions list.
Trump, for his part, once again promises to be firm. Sources close to him report that this time he plans to “bankrupt Iran as soon as possible.”
Success here could have wide-ranging repercussions. The elimination of Hezbollah’s leadership in Lebanon, and the degradation of its military assets by Israeli airstrikes, have already precipitated the fall of Assad in Syria. Without a crucial ally in the region, that leaves the Iranian regime weaker and more vulnerable than it has been in decades — and this, British Foreign Office sources say, at a time when its internal popularity is at a historically low level. With stakes like these, it is not surprising that Ben Taleblu argues that, if Trump’s strategy of maximum pressure had been rigorously applied during the Biden era, the Middle East would not now be mired in wars which began on October 7.
However, while Republicans are sure to take the Iranian threat more seriously than their Democratic predecessors, actually stopping the flow of illicit oil won’t be easy. “It involves more than just consumers,” says Norman Roule, a 35-year CIA veteran and now a senior adviser to the activist think tank United Against a Nuclear Iran. “This requires clear and strict standards to ensure that international banks do not facilitate financial transfers associated with illegal oil sales. »
For that to happen, Roule adds, the United States would have to immediately judge any dealings with Iran as questionable — although Washington must also push other governments to take their responsibilities seriously. Maximum pressure, it seems, will involve joint effort.
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