SEATTLE (Oil Monster): Iran is using oil terminals and storage facilities in China to keep sanctioned tankers operating despite US restrictions, according to a confidential document obtained by Iran International and information from Oil Ministry sources.
The document is a confidential letter from Hamid Bovard, the former head of the National Iranian Oil Company and current acting oil minister, responding to a highly confidential letter Ali Shamkhani, a former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, sent to then-supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Shamkhani, who served as Khamenei's political adviser, had described oil sales under President Masoud Pezeshkian as disastrous. Both Shamkhani and Khamenei were killed in US-Israeli strikes on February 28, 2026.
In his letter, Bovard criticized the administration of former President Ebrahim Raisi for its policy of using newer vessels and described an arrangement developed under Pezeshkian with what he characterized as covert cooperation from China.
According to Bovard, Iranian authorities instructed trusted oil intermediaries to continue using sanctioned vessels capable of docking at designated ports.
Bovard said Iran's Foreign Ministry negotiated with China to acquire port facilities and oil terminals, establishing a hub for sanctioned Iranian crude.
Tehran also secured long-term leases on large oil storage facilities in several Chinese locations, allowing it to sell Iranian crude directly in the Chinese market.
Under the arrangement, vessels belonging to Hossein Shamkhani, Ali Shamkhani's son and the owner of a fleet of tankers commonly described as a shadow fleet, transport Iranian oil to docks in China controlled by Tehran. The facilities allow the vessels to continue delivering oil despite US sanctions.
The arrangement is designed to reduce the impact of US sanctions on Hossein Shamkhani's shipping operations. The US Treasury has sanctioned 51 vessels linked to him.
For years, Iran has worked with China to sell oil through trusted intermediaries to small independent Chinese refineries, known as "teapot" refineries. The United States has repeatedly sanctioned companies involved in these transactions, but the use of intermediaries helps shield China's major banks and three largest oil companies from US sanctions.
Iran's oil terminals and storage facilities in China
Two sources in Iran's Oil Ministry told Iran International that Tehran has acquired control of port facilities at three locations in China. One is in the Ningbo-Zhoushan free trade zone, where Iran gained control of a terminal by helping build several smaller transit facilities.
Tehran also secretly acquired stakes in smaller docks at the ports of Qingdao and Pant in China's Shandong province, according to the sources.
The docks are located near pipelines, allowing Iranian crude to reach Chinese refineries quickly without being transferred to other vessels.
Iran has also purchased seven oil storage tanks in China, allowing it to ship crude to the country before securing buyers.
Four large Iranian-owned oil storage tanks are located at the ports of Dalian and Huizhou and in the coastal cities of Dongying and Weifang.
The Oil Ministry controls three other large storage tanks in the Zhoushan area of the Ningbo-Zhoushan archipelago, according to Iran International's sources. They are the Kamergi tank on Aoshan Island, a tank at the Shulanghu Island terminals and another in the Zengyamuo oil zone.
Two months ago, Iran International published a document showing that Mohammad Javad Bavand, a special assistant to the oil minister, instructed oil intermediary Mohammad Hadi Momenin, who owed $2 billion, to use a vessel belonging to Hossein Shamkhani to deliver oil for storage at one of the Chinese ports.
China also earns revenue from storing Iranian oil. Nearly two years ago, Reuters reported that 25 million barrels of Iranian crude were stranded in storage facilities in China and that Tehran had paid $450 million in storage fees.
Courtesy: www.iranintl.com
