Illustration by 731; Alamy, Getty Images
Secretive Trader ‘Hector’ Seen as Global Kingpin for Iranian Oil
How the son of an adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei is said to have become a major player in international energy markets.
When Milavous Group Ltd. rented an upper floor in a swanky Dubai corporate tower two years ago, few had heard of the firm. Yet within months it won outsized influence in global energy markets — said to be steered by a businessman whom traders describe as one of the most powerful kingpins distributing Iranian oil worldwide.
From its perch in Dubai, Milavous has raked in billions of dollars in sales from commodities originating out of Iran, Russia and elsewhere, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity discussing confidential business dealings. At its highest levels sits Hossein Shamkhani, the soft-spoken son of a former Iranian security chief who remains a prominent adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.