The Global Trading Empire Run by a Secretive Iranian Oil Tycoon
On this episode of Bloomberg Investigates, we pull back the curtain on a shadow world where billions of dollars are being made amid sanctions and war.
Photo Illustration: Christian Capestany
An upstart Dubai trading firm called Milavous Group Ltd. turned heads in 2022 when it rented an upper floor in one of the city’s swankiest corporate towers. As it turns out, this wasn’t just any commodities company — it was controlled by the son of a top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Within months, this once-obscure entity was moving staggering volumes of product — part of a shadow network spanning Iranian oil sales, Russian arms deals and even a London hedge fund, Bloomberg News has reported. This sprawling web of tankers, trading firms and shell companies generated tens of billions of dollars in profit, according to the US Treasury Department. On this episode of Bloomberg Investigates, we reveal the man behind the network and speak to investigators who shed light on a dark world of trade amid sanctions and war.