Cargo Ship Reportedly Owned By Iran Security Chief Impounded In India

The container vessel, named Kabul, belongs to the Admiral Shipping Company that Iranian media said is owned by Hassan and Hossein Shamkhani, the sons of the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

ILNA news agency reported on Friday that an Indian court has ordered the seizure of the ship and cargos originating or destined to Iran about 10 days ago.

The container ship is impounded on charges of possessing false documents, and has been anchored at Kandla, officially Deendayal Port -- a seaport and town in Kutch district of Gujarat state in Western India -- for 10 days ago.

According to Marine Traffic, KABUL is a container ship that was built in 2001 and is sailing under the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

In recent years, the economic activities of Shamkhani’s family, including his brother and son-in-law, have been widely criticized and made headlines in Iran. Shamkhani was an admiral in Iran’s navy and a former IRGC commander.

He has recently been an outspoken critic of the Vienna talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal. After news about the impounded ship broke, critics quipped that continuation of United States’ sanctions are apparently good for Shamkhani family’s business interests.

This week, the publication of an audio recording implicated top commanders of the Revolutionary Guards in a massive corruption scheme in mid-2010s.