Inside Iran’s Shadow Banking Empire: Three Brothers, Hundreds of Tankers, and Billions in Laundered Oil Cash
by Clara Preve
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When nearly two-thirds of Iran’s shadow fleet suddenly reappeared on the world’s radar, analysts were stunned. In this interview, TankerTrackers.com co-founder Samir Madani explains why Tehran’s sanctioned tankers briefly went visible — and what it reveals about global oil smuggling.
At Whale Hunting, we’re tracking the world’s shadow fleets—the vast, unregulated armadas that move sanctioned oil across the globe and keep outlaw regimes alive. From Russia’s ghost tankers in the Baltic to Venezuela’s rusting vessels off Curaçao, these ships make up a hidden economy worth billions, operating beyond the reach of sanctions and oversight.
This week, we turn to Iran, the original architect of the dark-fleet playbook. Its tankers have long navigated international waters with their tracking systems off, quietly exporting millions of barrels of crude in defiance of sanctions. Then, last week, a large share of the fleet briefly came online, revealing their positions to the world before vanishing again.
Why did the world’s most sanctioned fleet choose to make itself visible—and what does it signal about the next phase of oil smuggling and enforcement? In this edition, we investigate the system Tehran built to survive in the shadows—and reveal exclusive satellite imagery of one of its sanctioned tankers, the HUMANITY, caught performing a covert ship-to-ship transfer off the coast of Malaysia.
-- Clara
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For years, tankers in Iran’s shadow fleet have slipped through international waters with their tracking systems switched off, evading sanctions and selling millions of barrels of crude in secret. But this week, something extraordinary happened: nearly 60 percent of Iran’s sanctioned vessels suddenly turned their AIS transponders back on, revealing their positions to the world.
BREAKING: For reasons still unknown, most Iranian-flagged tankers are now transmitting properly over AIS without spoofing; for the first time in seven and a half years. This change began today. Please note that two different AIS data providers confirm this. #OOTT #Tankers pic.twitter.com/1JxMuNCcLP
— TankerTrackers.com, Inc. (@TankerTrackers) October 13, 2025
Was it a mistake, a political signal, or a digital trap? To find out, we spoke to Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, the platform that has spent years mapping the global “dark fleet” — from Iranian supertankers in the Strait of Malacca to Russian oil smugglers in the Black Sea. Madani breaks down how Iran perfected ship-to-ship transfers and spoofing tactics, and why this sudden transparency may be a calculated move tied to geopolitical timing.
As he explains, the sanctions regime has spawned a sprawling maritime underworld: thousands of aging vessels, false identities, and uninsured tankers conducting illicit trades worth hundreds of millions each week. When these ghost ships collide or explode, there’s no owner to sue and no insurer to pay — only growing environmental and geopolitical risks no one is truly monitoring.
Below, we show exclusive satellite imagery of the HUMANITY, an Iranian tanker under U.S. sanctions since May 2025 and added to the United Nations blacklist in September. TankerTrackers.com has been monitoring the vessel’s movements throughout the year.
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