Iran drops dark-fleet middlemen to sell oil directly

EditorJaiveer Shekhawat
Published 04/15/2026, 11:12 AM
© Reuters.

Investing.com -- Iran has abandoned intermediaries it used for decades to sell its oil after several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials who run shadow fleet operations were killed, according to Iranian state media.

IRNA and the Tehran Times reported that the National Iranian oil company would resume sole authority of marketing Iranian crude.

The previous system relied on a network of trustees, including oil traders in Russia and Dubai with direct links to senior IRGC officials whose job was to circumvent American and EU sanctions in order to maintain revenue flows to the Iranian regime.

Malaysian refinery officials told The Wall Street Journal they had lost contact with two IRGC officials who previously arranged ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian crude near the Strait of Malacca.

The U.S. blockade of Iranian ports has stopped Iran-controlled or dark-fleet tankers moving Iranian oil to importers mainly China and India.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

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