By Struan Stevenson Conflagration engulfs the Middle East, with the Israel-Hamas war having gone on for more than a year now, and many Israeli hostages are still being held in deplorable conditions by Hamas terrorists. In Northern Israel, constant missile and rocket attacks by Hezbollah led to the mass evacuation of more than 70,000 Israelis from their homes in 2024 and to the inevitable military retaliation by the Israel Defense Forces, as they crossed the border into Southern Lebanon. Israeli missiles are raining down on key Hezbollah targets in Beirut. The assassination of Hezbollah’s terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, a seismic event, shattered his close friend and ally Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader and Hezbollah’s main sponsor. Nasrallah’s successor, Hashem Saffieddine, was also killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut within hours of being nominated for the Hezbollah leadership role and before the funeral of his predecessor had even taken place. Es...
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Exclusive: Iranian Opposition Exposes Petrochemical Company Financing Regime’s Terrorism and Oppression
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Written by Shamsi Saadati
On May 31, 2023, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) exposed classified documents obtained by the social network of the main opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) inside Iran and the network of this organization inside the various organs of the Iranian regime, revealing information about Petrochemical Commercial Company International (PCCI), one of the regime’s important organs used in the field of oil and petrochemicals to circumvent sanctions.
These documents show that the facilities of this organization, which is under the control of the regime’s Armed Forces, specifically the IRGC, are clearly used to finance the regime’s belligerence and terrorism abroad and repression at home.
Petrochemical Commercial Company International (PCCI)
The Petrochemical Commercial Co. International (PCCI), established in 2000, bypasses the oil and petrochemical sanctions in astronomical dimensions by creating branches and companies with the same name outside Iran (specifically countries that are not under sanctions). It spends the resulting financial benefits to promote the regime’s policies abroad.
PCCI is a subsidiary of “Parsian Oil and Gas Development Group” owned by Ghadir Investment Holding, one of Iran’s commercial and investment giants. Ghadir belongs to the Social Security Organization of the Armed Forces (SATA) (the Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of SATA is IRGC Brigadier General Dr. Seyed Majid Ibnalreza).
Ghadir and several other similar groups operate under the supervision of Brigadier General Mustafa Najjar (former Minister of Defense) within the context of the “Resistant Economy” ordered by the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to cede control of Iran’s economic arteries to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The PCCI was registered on May 17, 2000, with 100% ownership of National Petrochemical Industries Company under the title “Petrochemical Trading Company (Limited Liability)” with number 77283 in the Jersey Companies Registration Office in Channel Island, England. On August 18, 2000, the company’s name was changed to “Petrochemical Commercial Company International (Limited Liability).”
The US government sanctioned PCCI on May 24, 2011.2 Subsequently, on November 3, 2011, the regime transferred this company to Labuan Island in Malaysia, a free trade island with no import taxes (making it a suitable place for oil and gas processing).
According to the business plan of this company for the Iranian year 1402 (March 2023 to March 2024), PCCI currently has four trust companies and relevant offices in the UAE (in Jebel Ali free zone), one trust company in Turkey, and it also is the largest Iranian company with a history of presence and activity in Turkmenistan.
PCCI activities and operations
The obtained documents show that PCCI has been active in the following fields:
Selling the assigned crude oil quota belonging to the Armed Forces General Staff. One of the documents specifies the dimensions of crude oil allocation to the General Staff of the Armed Forces. Major General Amir Hatami (Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Support) stated in a letter to Supreme Leader Khamenei on October 24, 2020, that 990,000 barrels of the approved export of 1.46 million barrels of oil per day belong to the Petro oil refinery and companies affiliated with the Armed Forces and the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (also known as EIKO, or SETAD, a huge economic empire under the control of Khamenei and his office with assets worth over 100 billion dollars)
Considering the specialty of selling crude oil, in the implementation of Clause Note of the budget law for the year 2019 of the whole country, PCCI Company was entrusted with the sale of crude oil for the General Staff of the Armed Forces and under letter No. 1399/1003 P.P. dated 5/27/1399, this was officially communicated to PCCI.5
Selling Venezuelan oil. In this regard, it has sold five million barrels of extra heavy crude oil per month for one year.
Selling the chemical product Urea (also known as Carbamide) exported by the Ministry of Defense to Yemen (Houthis).
PCCI also fulfills the orders of the international affairs department of the Ministry of Defense. Among other things, the military attaché of the Ministry of Defense of the regime in Belarus has requested polymer products from this company, which this company has fulfilled.
The PCCI parent company managers clearly state that PCCI “performs currency transfer operations.” As a foreign company, PCCI buys manufactured items from Iranian companies and sells them to foreign customers.
Dimensions of PCCI’s transactions
The managing director of PCCI stated in the report dated October 25, 2022, to Dr. Amir Abbas Hosseini, the then-managing director of Ghadir Holding, “According to the mission of this company in line with the sale of oil for the quota of the Ministry of Defense of the Budget Law of 2019, a heavy crude oil shipment of 760,000 barrels was loaded from the southern ports of Iran and 32 ships of Iranian light crude oil were loaded with the amount of 1,070,000 barrels from the northern ports of the Caspian Sea, and about 100 million dollars from the mentioned budget was made available to the Ministry of Defense.
It is worth mentioning that due to the limitations in the Caspian Sea and the maximum loading capacity of 35,000 barrels per ship, the loading operation was very difficult, and this company was able to carry it out correctly. It is necessary to clarify that PCCI is the first crude oil exporting company from the north and south of the country, which, due to the restrictions imposed on the country, managed to do this task accurately and consistently in less than two months.”
The same document states that 605,000 tons of urea exported from Kermanshah, Pardis, and Shiraz petrochemicals were sold by this company between 2019 and 2022.
Another part of the activities of this company has revolved around the conclusion of a contract for the sale of Venezuelan heavy oil (Crude Oil Mery 16) with PDVSA (Venezuelan state oil and gas company) and selling it in the southern regions of China.
PCCI plans for the Iranian calendar year 1402 (March 20, 2023, to March 20, 2024)
In its business plan for the Iranian year 1402, PCCI states, among other things, that one of the major missions of this company is “civilian commercial interactions of the ministries of defense and armed forces” (including the IRGC).
It will also have special presence and attention in countries where other companies refrain from seriously entering due to certain security, economic, sanctions, and other situations, including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Armenia, and Venezuela, by using its potential capacities.
In addition to urea, it has on its agenda the monthly sale of 2 shipments of petroleum products in the UAE and East Asia markets.
In regard to Syria, the Iranian regime has significantly helped the Syrian dictator, Assad, by providing oil and petrochemical products. PCCI accompanied the delegation of the Ministry of Defense and Support of the Armed Forces to Syria to supply Syria with oil. And a joint committee was formed between Syria and Iran “for the development of joint economic cooperation.”
Funding Repression of Protesters During Iran Uprising
The revenue made by PCCI and allocated to the military is used in Syria, Yemen, and other regional countries to support its regional proxies and fund terrorism.
However, the revenue is also used to empower and additionally fund the state security forces and other repressive forces to crush the uprising in Iran and suppress the protesters seeking regime change.
In a nutshell, the documents exposed by the Iranian opposition show that the Petrochemical Commercial Company International (PCCI), is the Iranian regime’s leading entity to defy sanctions to sell oil and petrochemical products in astronomical dimensions and fund terror. The PCCI is a subsidiary of “The Parsian Oil and Gas Development Group Company,” which is a subsidiary of the economic giant Ghadir Investment Company, operated by the IRGC and ultimately controlled by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The company sells assigned crude oil for the Armed Forces General Staff. Some 990,000 b/d of oil out of 1.46 million b/d (two-thirds) is allocated to benefit the Armed Forces and Khamenei’s SETAD, despite the sanctions. The company is heavily involved in currency transfers by evading sanctions. PCCI accompanied the Ministry of Defense delegation to Syria to supply oil; it also sells exported urea from the Ministry of Defense to Yemen (Houthis). PCCI also sells Venezuelan oil.
The Iranian Resistance’s latest revelation exposes the Iranian regime as an unscrupulous actor, brazenly flouting sanctions, trampling on international law, bankrolling terrorist activities overseas, and ruthlessly suppressing dissent within its own borders, all without an ounce of remorse or accountability.
The West’s policy of appeasement, especially in the last two and a half years, has emboldened Tehran to mock sanctions, accelerate its nuclear weapons program, and bolster its terror network with impunity.
Every dollar that finds its way into the regime’s coffers is a direct investment in terrorism, violence, and domestic oppression. The folly of appeasement is not only misguided but also morally reprehensible, especially when the Iranian people have unequivocally rejected this regime and are yearning for a free, democratic, non-nuclear republic, as evident from their persistent protests.
The time has come for the United States and other Western nations to take a firm stand against the Iranian regime and re-enforce all six U.N. Security Council resolutions, thereby demonstrating unwavering support for the Iranian people’s aspirations for a better future.
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