A British nationwide who secured asylum within the UK has been accused by American officers of orchestrating a bootleg oil buying and selling scheme price billions of {dollars} that’s allegedly funding Iranian terrorism.
Salim Ahmed Stated, who fled Iraq and gained British citizenship within the early 2000s, has been sanctioned by the Trump administration for allegedly operating a classy community that trades Iranian petroleum by misrepresenting it as Iraqi crude.
The 47-year-old businessman, who owns a luxurious lodge in Kensington valued about £27 million, purportedly oversees a number of corporations that American authorities declare have been conducting this misleading commerce since at the least 2020, The Occasions reviews.
US Treasury officers say that revenues from these operations are transported to Iran in autos laden with money, in the end financing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Based on American Treasury paperwork, Stated's enterprises make use of vessel-to-vessel transfers and varied concealment strategies to masks their operations.
The scheme allegedly includes combining Iranian petroleum with Iraqi crude, which is subsequently marketed to western purchasers via Iraq or the United Arab Emirates as solely Iraqi product, utilizing falsified paperwork to bypass sanctions.
US officers state: "Stated's corporations use ship-to-ship transfers and different obfuscation strategies to cover their actions."
The Treasury additional alleges: "Stated's corporations and vessels mix Iranian oil with Iraqi oil, which is then bought to Western consumers, by way of Iraq or the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as purely Iraqi oil utilizing solid documentation to keep away from sanctions."
American authorities declare Stated has distributed "tens of millions of {dollars} in kickbacks" to Iraqi politicians and authorities staff to allow his worthwhile enterprise.
Stated, an Iraqi Kurd initially from Ranya close to the Iranian frontier, arrived in Britain round 2002 searching for safety from Saddam Hussein's persecution of Kurdish communities.
A former enterprise companion revealed: "He claimed asylum and was later given a British passport."
The businessman, who additionally goes by the identify Omed Haji Ahmed, initially resided in Hounslow earlier than establishing his first UK enterprise in 2011 – a Leicester-based Jap European meals store referred to as Rhine on Granby Avenue.
After the store closed in 2014, Stated relocated to Dubai to pursue petroleum buying and selling alternatives.
He presently divides his time between a lavish residence on Palm Jumeirah's unique synthetic islands and Britain, the place he acquired the four-star Gainsborough Lodge close to the Pure Historical past Museum in 2018.
The property spans 5 interconnected Victorian townhouses in south Kensington.
The alleged smuggling community reportedly operates via VS Tankers, a UAE-registered transport firm that American officers declare Stated manages while concealing his formal involvement.
Treasury paperwork point out the agency's fleet contains vessels that carried out 4 vessel-to-vessel exchanges with the sanctioned Barbados-flagged tanker Casinova in April 2024.
One other UAE entity allegedly underneath Stated's management, Rhine Transport, beforehand managed the sanctioned tanker Molecule, which authorities say collected petroleum from an Iranian vessel that had disabled its monitoring system to obscure the switch.
American officers report that in 2023, Stated established VS Oil Terminal, registered within the UAE however bodily positioned at Khor al-Zubair in Iraq.
The power operates six storage containers the place Iranian petroleum is allegedly delivered for mixing with Iraqi crude.
Treasury paperwork state: "VS Oil staff smuggle onerous forex into [neighbouring] Iran by way of vehicles and vehicles a few of which carry tens of millions of {dollars} every as fee for oil."
The American authorities introduced these measures on 3 July, declaring it was "taking motion towards networks which have collectively transported and bought billions of {dollars} price of Iranian oil, a few of which has benefited Iran's IRGC Quds Pressure, a chosen international terrorist organisation".
The Quds Pressure conducts Tehran's worldwide operations, together with alleged abduction and homicide conspiracies throughout America, Britain and Europe.
The State Division indicated the sanctions aimed "to stem the move of income the Iranian regime makes use of to help terrorism overseas and oppress its personal folks".
British safety providers and MI5 have disrupted over twenty schemes to abduct or kill Iranian regime critics within the UK since early 2022.
These embrace a number of deliberate assaults on workers at Iran Worldwide, the impartial Persian-language media organisation primarily based in London.
British authorities have remained silent concerning potential motion towards Stated, regardless of the American sanctions imposed earlier this month.
The Overseas Workplace, liable for implementing UK sanctions, refused to debate the matter when approached for remark by The Occasions.
Equally, the Nationwide Crime Company, which handles sanctions enforcement, declined to handle questions on Stated's case.
A authorities insider said: "We don’t touch upon potential future sanctions designations as to take action might undermine their influence."
Stated's UK-registered corporations, Robinbest Ltd and The Willett Lodge Ltd, initially listed an accountancy agency in Stratford as their registered handle.
The agency confirmed consciousness of the American sanctions and disclosed it had knowledgeable Stated of its choice to terminate providers.
By 9 July, each corporations had relocated their registered handle to the Gainsborough Lodge's location in Queensberry Place, south Kensington.