Iran International
The lawyer for the son of a key figure in Iran’s ruling elite says they have filed a lawsuit against Bloomberg over a report alleging his involvement in Iranian oil trade linked to Russia and global energy markets.
However, the lawyer, as quoted by Iranian media, did not specify where or when the lawsuit was filed. Iran International has not independently verified whether the lawsuit has actually been filed.
Hossein Shamkhani, the son of former security chief Ali Shamkhani, is at the center of the controversy. In December 2024, Ali Shamkhani, who served as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) from 2013 to 2023, declared himself a key decision-maker on Iran's global strategy and nuclear diplomacy.
ILNA published the interview on Saturday, in which the lawyer rejected Bloomberg’s reporting on Milavous Group Ltd., a company that Bloomberg reported had a financial turnover of $15 billion in 2022 and was part of Shamkhani’s business network.
The lawyer, who was not named, dismissed Bloomberg’s reporting as "completely fabricated", saying: "Mr. Shamkhani is neither the owner nor a shareholder of Milavous Group, and the numbers Bloomberg published are pure fiction. If they had any proof, they would have published it by now."
"We have taken legal action against Bloomberg for publishing false and baseless accusations against Mr. Shamkhani. They have provided no evidence to support their reporting, despite repeated requests," the lawyer told ILNA.
Bloomberg’s investigation described Milavous Group as a major player in the global oil market, allegedly engaged in blending and rebranding crude oil from Iran and Russia to obscure its origins. According to the report, sources familiar with the matter said that Shamkhani oversaw a sprawling web of interconnected businesses facilitating illicit Iranian oil sales. The report also noted that Milavous and other companies in Shamkhani’s network supply oil to major buyers, including China’s Sinopec, Chevron in the US, and BP in the UK.
However, Shamkhani’s unnamed lawyer said the financial claims about Milavous were inaccurate.
"We obtained financial records for Milavous Group, audited by an American firm, and they show that the company's turnover was just $9.2 million in 2022 and around $9.9 million in 2023. These figures are nowhere near what Bloomberg published," the lawyer said.
The Bloomberg report also noted that while Hossein Shamkhani has not been sanctioned, some of the vessels believed to be under his control had been blacklisted by the US Treasury. The investigation cited multiple unnamed sources alleging that Shamkhani’s network had deep ties to both Iranian and Russian oil markets, benefiting from the lack of direct sanctions against him.
Additionally, in December, Bloomberg reported that Hossein Shamkhani plays a key role in the supply of Iranian arms to Russia, citing more than a dozen unnamed US, UK, and European officials, as well as individuals with direct knowledge of his activities.
Despite these allegations, both Shamkhani and Milavous have denied any wrongdoing. A separate lawyer representing Shamkhani previously told Bloomberg that the allegations were "baseless and lacking supporting evidence." Similarly, Milavous Group's managing director, Mohamed Al Hashmi, dismissed any connection to Shamkhani or involvement in Iranian or Russian oil trading.
Shamkhani’s legal team now insists that the lawsuit will hold Bloomberg accountable for what they describe as "irresponsible and false reporting."
