Info:
National Iranian Tanker Company operates as an independent shipping company in Iran. Its services include shipping refined petrochemicals, transporting crude oil, rescuing lives at large oceans and sea, training oil spill task forces, and training services;
NITC is a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, which was privatized in 2009. As of 2011, NITC was owned by funds managing pensions for 5 million Iranians. It is the biggest tanker company in the Middle East;
The company transports Iranian crude to export markets and also engages in cross-trading of crude oil cargoes for some 150 oil majors worldwide, including Royal Dutch Shell, Total SA, Saudi Aramco and state-run producers in Kuwait and Abu Dhabi. NITC has a capacity of 11 million tons per year;
NITC, a subsidiary of NIOC, is responsible for the transportation of Iranian crude exports. NIOC and NITC provide both the oil and tankers for the sale of Iranian oil by the IRGC-QF. The cooperation and coordination between the IRGC-QF and these entities extends well beyond the simple sale of oil, including coordination between NIOC and the Central Bank of Iran to facilitate the collection of tens of millions of dollars in proceeds from the sale of oil that benefitted the IRGC-QF. NITC has also played a significant role in oil deals used to generate revenue for the IRGC-QF and Hizballah. NITC personnel coordinated with the IRGC-QF on the loading of oil provided by NIOC, and NITC Managing Director Nasrollah Sardashti (Sardashti) worked with Hizballah on logistics and pricing for oil shipments to Syria. Sardashti also worked with Qatirji Group representative Viyan Zanganeh (Zanganeh) and a senior IRGC-QF official to facilitate the shipment of millions of dollars of oil by NITC. In 2018, OFAC designated Syrian regime-affiliated Qatirji Group for facilitating fuel trades between the Syrian regime and the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS), including providing oil products to ISIS-controlled territory. As of early 2020, the Qatirji Group’s Zanganeh continued to work closely with the IRGC-QF to coordinate NIOC’s provision of millions of barrels of oil and petroleum products to be shipped to Syria, as well as millions of dollars in payments back to Iran. In mid-2020, Zanganeh continued to act as an intermediary between the IRGC-QF and a Syrian regime-affiliated business, arranging for the funding of the release of a seized vessel and additional shipments of fuel oil;
NITC set up a front company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Atlas Ship Management. NITC officials also arranged to create a separate UAE-based front company, Atlantic Ship Management Company, ostensibly as an entity to replace Atlas Ship Management;
In May 2018, when the Trump administration re-imposed unilateral sanctions against Iran after the complete withdrawal from the JCPOA, China started to shift its petroleum cargo to ships owned by the NITC to maintain or even increase imports from Iran;
It was not immediately clear, which entities would provide insurance for those shipments worth $1.5 billion a month. Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp. and Sinopec Group have activated a business clause in their long term supply agreement with NIOC, and likely Iran will cover all the costs and risks, including insurance, for the delivery of the crude;
Additionally, pursuant to E.O. 13599, OFAC identified 37 NITC-affiliated entities and vessels in which NITC has an interest. Identifying information for another 52 vessels confirmed as being property in which NITC has an interest;
Each year, these vessels move tens of millions of barrels’ worth of Iranian oil, as well as Iranian natural gas, which constitute a major source of revenue to fund the Iranian regime’s malign activities. It is essential to close off this funding stream to Tehran;
The Iranian shipping industry is reviving previously employed deceptive practices in an effort to obfuscate IRISL or NITC’s interests in vessels and other property. Among the IRISL vessels identified today are four vessels that recently underwent name and partial ownership changes but that are still property in which IRISL has a blockable interest;
The global maritime industry should be on alert for Iran’s use of such tactics and make every effort to thwart Iran’s use of their jurisdictions to create front companies, to revoke their flags from IRISL and NITC vessels and to deny other means that enable Iran to conceal its interest in the vessels;
Report Announces Determination that the National Iranian Oil Company is an Agent or Affiliate of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps;
Industry:
Shipping Industry
Established:
1955
Also Known As:
NITC
Country:
Iran
Address:
67-88, Shahid Atefi Street, Africa Avenue, Tehran, Iran
Phone:
98 21 23801
98 21 66153220
98 21 23803202
98 21 23803303
98 21 66153224
98 21 23802230
98 9121115315
98 9128091642
98 9127389031
Website:
www.nitc.co.ir
E-Mail:
info@nitc.co.ir
administrator@nitc.co.ir
Person of interests:
Hamid Behbahani (Managing Director)
Mr. Tabatabaei (In charge of CBT and in charge of Training)
Mrs. Soltani (In charge of Expatriates Filing and Computer Operator)
Mr. Zare Mehrjerdi (In charge of Engineer Officers)
Mr. Hedayati (In charge of Deck Rating)
Vahid Haghanian
Reason for the color:
» Added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on October 26, 2020 pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, the IRGC-QF;
» Added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on November 5, 2018, identified pursuant to E.O. 13599 for meeting the definition of the term “Government of Iran.”;
» Iranian oil shipment through The Suez canal provides a route for oil from Iran to Syria
» U.S. imposes sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical industry
» Greece and Iran: The Dark Side of the Relationship
» Report Announces Determination that the National Iranian Oil Company is an Agent or Affiliate of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps;
» Treasury Targets Iranian Attempts to Evade Sanctions;
» Individuals and entities linked to National Iranian Tanker Company
» Listed by the European Union in October 2012 as an entity linked to Iran’s proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities or Iran’s development of nuclear weapon delivery systems;
» Effectively controlled by the Government of Iran. Provides financial support to the Government of Iran through its shareholders which maintain ties with the Government;
» Removed from the E.U. list in January 2016 as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action;