The IRGC’s Smuggling Conglomerate

Last week, the U.S. government sanctioned and indicted associates of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF). Amir Dianat was accused of helping the IRGC-QF to “generate revenue and smuggle weapons abroad.” U.S. criminal charges also filed against him allege that he and an associate conspired to provide U.S. financial services to Iranian entities in a bid to buy a petroleum tanker, the Nautic, in September 2019—months before former IRGC-QF Commander Qassem Soleimani’s death. Given Soleimani’s role for an extended period of time in overseeing this smuggling and sanctions busting network, his death leaves a management void in one of the crown jewels of IRGC-QF operations. But four IRGC operatives have unique skill sets to fill this role moving forward—specifically Behnam Shahriyari, Iran’s former Oil Minister Rostam Ghasemi, the new Commander of IRGC-QF Esmail Ghaani, and his deputy commander, Mohammad Hejazi.

In its designation, the U.S. Treasury Department highlighted the ties of Dianat to Shahriyari and Ghasemi. Behnam Shahriyari has been on the radar of U.S. officials for years. He was sanctioned in 2011 for acting on behalf of Liner Transport Kish (LTK), itself a sanctioned entity under Executive Order 13224. LTK stood accused of provision of weapons to Hezbollah. Shahriyari has been a key figure in the IRGC’s weapons smuggling schemes, specifically part of the IRGC-QF’s Unit 190, which has funneled arms to Tehran’s regional battle theaters. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo publicly accused Unit 190 of arms transfers to the Houthis in Yemen.

Rostam Ghasemi is another core member of this network. A former commander of the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbia Construction Headquarters, Ghasemi went on to serve as oil minister during the second term of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidency. After his cabinet tenure, Ghasemi became Qassem Soleimani’s advisor for Syria reconstruction as well as the head of the Iranian-Syrian Economic Relations Development Committee. Ghasemi also served for a period as a special advisor on Iraq to Iran’s First Vice President. These were strategic appointments, as Ghasemi was intimately connected to illicit networks through Khatam al-Anbia and his experience working with Babak Zanjani, who helped the Ahmadinejad administration circumvent U.S. sanctions to sell oil. In September 2019, the Trump administration sanctioned a vast petroleum shipping network which featured “dozens of ship managers, vessels, and facilitators,” including Hezbollah officials and front companies, enabling the IRGC-QF to conceal its role. This designation announcement indicates that as late as last fall, Ghasemi was still identified as an overseer of this “sprawling network,” reporting to Soleimani.

As a former deputy commander of the IRGC-QF, Esmail Ghaani had a background in logistics as well as providing financial oversight of weapons shipments. The U.S. Treasury Department cited his role in managing one to The Gambia when it sanctioned him in 2012. Israeli officials later indicated the shipment’s rockets were headed to Gaza. Such experiences enable him to fill Soleimani’s shoes when it comes to intricate smuggling networks, particularly Unit 190.

Another official to watch is Mohammad Hejazi, the new deputy commander of the IRGC-QF. Hejazi briefly served as deputy commander-in-chief of the IRGC from 2008-09, and his tenure coincided with Ghasemi’s leadership of its Khatam al-Anbia Construction Headquarters from 2007-11. As a result, Hejazi’s and Ghasemi’s preexisting relationship may also contribute to oversight of smuggling networks moving forward. That’s not to mention Hejazi’s recent experience overseeing the IRGC-QF’s efforts to supply precision-guided missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Thus, Shahriyari’s role in Unit 190, Ghasemi’s deep contacts in Iraq and Syria, Ghaani’s experience in financing weapons transfers, and Hejazi’s work in Lebanon all align as links in a chain of Iranian arms transfers moving forward, from Tehran to Beirut and with reach into Sanaa. The sanctions announced last week on IRGC-QF operatives were a reminder of the durability of Iran’s smuggling architecture.

Jason M. Brodsky is the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI).