The measures designate Singapore-based Wellbred Capital Pte Ltd, UAE-based Wellbred Trading FZCO and Switzerland-based Wellbred Trading SA. La Nivernaise de Raffinage SAS, a French cooking-oil refinery controlled by Wellbred Trading SA, has also been placed under sanctions.
The action forms part of a broader campaign launched by the Trump administration on Monday, August 24, targeting nearly 60 individuals, companies and vessels connected with Iran’s petroleum exports, missile and nuclear procurement, cyber operations and sanctions-evasion networks.
Wellbred specialises in oil, naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas and other petrochemicals. Its operations have extended across major trading centres, with the group maintaining a commercial presence in markets including the UAE, Switzerland, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.
US authorities allege that Shamkhani established Wellbred as an apparently separate commodities business while retaining ultimate responsibility for its operations. The structure enabled the company to conduct international transactions without openly displaying connections with Iran, officials allege.
Shamkhani, a son of former senior security official Ali Shamkhani, has emerged as a central target of Washington’s campaign against networks used to move Iranian and Russian petroleum around international sanctions. His business interests have included shipping, commodities trading and financial investments distributed through companies in several jurisdictions.
Wellbred Capital was designated for being owned or controlled by, or acting on behalf of, Shamkhani. The Dubai and Geneva businesses were targeted because of their links to the Singapore parent, while La Nivernaise de Raffinage was designated because of its ownership relationship with Wellbred Trading SA.
The Swiss company acquired La Nivernaise de Raffinage in 2024 as Wellbred expanded into alternative-energy and related investments in Europe. Corporate records identify the refinery’s operations in Prémery, in France’s Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, and show Wellbred Trading SA as its shareholder.
The sanctions effectively freeze property and interests in property under US jurisdiction belonging to the designated companies. Transactions involving them by US persons are generally prohibited. Foreign financial institutions can also face restrictions if they knowingly facilitate significant transactions involving sanctioned parties.
The Wellbred action broadens a crackdown on Shamkhani that began on a much larger scale in July 2025. Washington then targeted more than 50 individuals and entities and identified more than 50 vessels associated with what it described as his shipping empire. That package was the largest US Iran-related sanctions action since 2018 at the time.
Further measures this year have sought to disrupt companies, vessels and financial channels associated with the network as enforcement authorities track how proceeds from petroleum sales move through commodity traders, shipping companies and investment vehicles.
A US civil forfeiture case filed in March also alleged that Shamkhani and associates made business decisions for Wellbred. Court documents described internal material portraying the Singapore operation as a business intended to remain insulated from visible Iran-related exposure.
The latest measures go beyond the Shamkhani network. Washington has opened what the administration calls Operation Economic Outcast, expanding potential sanctions exposure across digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping. These areas join petroleum, petrochemicals and finance as sectors facing intensified scrutiny over transactions benefiting Tehran.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the campaign was intended to sever financial connections supporting the Iranian government and warned businesses and countries continuing transactions with sanctioned networks that they could lose access to the US financial system.
The administration is simultaneously increasing pressure on companies involved in the movement of Iranian crude and petroleum products through the so-called shadow fleet. Several tankers and their owners have been designated over shipments involving Iranian crude, LPG and other petroleum products routed through third countries.
Washington has repeatedly argued that oil proceeds provide Tehran with resources for its military, missile programmes and regional operations. Iran maintains that US restrictions are unlawful economic coercion and has continued seeking alternative trade and payment channels outside the dollar-based financial system.
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