A number of Middle Eastern firms are using Instagram to advertise their exports of Iranian petroleum products to China and other countries around the world, despite the risks of U.S. sanctions for facilitating such trade.
These companies, which have not been sanctioned, have posted publicly on the U.S.-based social media platform about their products and documented their sales with photographs, continuing this activity into the Trump administration. According to trade data reviewed by Kharon, some of these businesses have exported Iranian petroleum products to countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
Kharon’s investigation into these networks comes as the U.S. escalates its crackdown on entities connected to the Iranian oil and gas industry, part of its “maximum pressure” campaign to influence ongoing nuclear talks.
These companies, which have not been sanctioned, have posted publicly on the U.S.-based social media platform about their products and documented their sales with photographs, continuing this activity into the Trump administration. According to trade data reviewed by Kharon, some of these businesses have exported Iranian petroleum products to countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
Kharon’s investigation into these networks comes as the U.S. escalates its crackdown on entities connected to the Iranian oil and gas industry, part of its “maximum pressure” campaign to influence ongoing nuclear talks.
“ALERT: All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW!” President Trump posted on Truth Social last week. Any country or person who buys “ANY AMOUNT of OIL or PETROCHEMICALS” from Iran, he wrote, will be subject to secondary sanctions.
But the Middle Eastern companies on Instagram have not been hiding their Iranian petrochemicals business. They’ve been touting it.
The China nexus
Chinese business with Iran’s oil and gas industry has been a prominent target for the Trump Treasury Department, which in recent months has designated multiple Chinese “teapot” refineries for their mass purchases of Iranian crude oil. But Chinese companies are buying more than just crude, as some Instagram accounts convey.
EMA Silk Road East, an Iranian company founded in 2023, promotes the Iran-China petrochemical trade on an Instagram page under the username “bitumen_iran_china,” referring to a product commonly used for road construction. In its bio, EMA advertises that it provides petroleum services between Iran and China and that it can “export your products & import the products you need” by ship or plane.
But the Middle Eastern companies on Instagram have not been hiding their Iranian petrochemicals business. They’ve been touting it.
The China nexus
Chinese business with Iran’s oil and gas industry has been a prominent target for the Trump Treasury Department, which in recent months has designated multiple Chinese “teapot” refineries for their mass purchases of Iranian crude oil. But Chinese companies are buying more than just crude, as some Instagram accounts convey.
EMA Silk Road East, an Iranian company founded in 2023, promotes the Iran-China petrochemical trade on an Instagram page under the username “bitumen_iran_china,” referring to a product commonly used for road construction. In its bio, EMA advertises that it provides petroleum services between Iran and China and that it can “export your products & import the products you need” by ship or plane.
EMA Silk Road East’s public Instagram page.
In January, EMA published to Instagram a joint post with Stellifer International FZCO, a UAE-based bitumen supplier that’s similarly active on the platform. The post’s first of four photographs showed a row of posing executives, with the caption reading: “Meetings with Chinese oil holding companies accompanied by Shanghai police chief.” It garnered more than 100 likes.
EMA’s China connections, however, go beyond trade. Two of its directors, including its chairman, manage the Shanghai-based Trade Promotion Center of Iran in China. According to its website, the center was established “to expand economic and technical cooperation” between the two countries.
EMA’s China connections, however, go beyond trade. Two of its directors, including its chairman, manage the Shanghai-based Trade Promotion Center of Iran in China. According to its website, the center was established “to expand economic and technical cooperation” between the two countries.
A joint post from EMA Silk Road East and Stellifer International promoting “Meetings with Chinese oil holding companies.” Kharon users can trace the Stellifer and EMA network here.
The Instagram page for Asia Nodezh Development and Trading, another Iranian company, advertises its sale of petroleum products to China, too. One post, from March 2024, shows a truck delivering petroleum products with the caption: “Delivered premium 60/70 bitumen in flexible tanks to China with satisfaction guaranteed!”
According to Chinese corporate records, Asia Nodezh’s owners controlled a Chinese company, Guangzhou Yinuo Trading Co, from 2018 until 2024, when its business license was revoked. But Asia Nodezh’s owners may have found new partners in China afterward. The company’s listed China factory shares an address and phone number, respectively, with two more Chinese companies. One of them, Zibo Yihai Packaging Products Co., changed the scope of its business activities in December to include the sale of petroleum products.
According to Chinese corporate records, Asia Nodezh’s owners controlled a Chinese company, Guangzhou Yinuo Trading Co, from 2018 until 2024, when its business license was revoked. But Asia Nodezh’s owners may have found new partners in China afterward. The company’s listed China factory shares an address and phone number, respectively, with two more Chinese companies. One of them, Zibo Yihai Packaging Products Co., changed the scope of its business activities in December to include the sale of petroleum products.
Aside from its oil trade with China, Asia Nodezh also posts on Instagram about its business in Africa. “Loading Bitumen Drums for Export to Ghana,” it posted in August, appending an emoji of the Ghanaian flag and more than 20 hashtags.
Asia Nodezh doesn’t just lay out its risky business dealings on Instagram, either. On its website, it notes a “strategic partnership” with the sanctioned National Iranian Oil Company.
Open trade in a sanctioned sector
Kharon’s investigation identified additional non-sanctioned actors that continue to publicize their ties to the Iranian oil sector, even while they promote their businesses elsewhere.
Two Iranian nationals own Avizheh Technology and Development of Middle East (ATDM), an Iranian-based company, and Turkish-based Basekim Chemical Production Company. One of the owners, Salar Sabbagh, co-owns a bitumen refinery himself called Petro Gold, and he has posted to his Instagram acknowledging that ATDM and Basekim both export products that have been produced by Iran’s Sepahan Oil Company.
Sabbagh is active in promoting ATDM and its bitumen business on his page, where he has claimed to have shipped petroleum products to Congo, Saudi Arabia and Romania, an EU member. Meanwhile, according to trade data, Basekim in 2022 shipped bitumen to India-based Hindustan Miswaco Limited, a joint venture between an American company and India’s Hindustan Group.
Asia Nodezh doesn’t just lay out its risky business dealings on Instagram, either. On its website, it notes a “strategic partnership” with the sanctioned National Iranian Oil Company.
Open trade in a sanctioned sector
Kharon’s investigation identified additional non-sanctioned actors that continue to publicize their ties to the Iranian oil sector, even while they promote their businesses elsewhere.
Two Iranian nationals own Avizheh Technology and Development of Middle East (ATDM), an Iranian-based company, and Turkish-based Basekim Chemical Production Company. One of the owners, Salar Sabbagh, co-owns a bitumen refinery himself called Petro Gold, and he has posted to his Instagram acknowledging that ATDM and Basekim both export products that have been produced by Iran’s Sepahan Oil Company.
Sabbagh is active in promoting ATDM and its bitumen business on his page, where he has claimed to have shipped petroleum products to Congo, Saudi Arabia and Romania, an EU member. Meanwhile, according to trade data, Basekim in 2022 shipped bitumen to India-based Hindustan Miswaco Limited, a joint venture between an American company and India’s Hindustan Group.
Kharon users can explore the Basekim and ATDM network in greater detail through the ClearView platform.
Signify Building Materials Trading LLC, a UAE-based company managed by Iranian nationals, has more than 1,200 followers on its own Instagram page, where at times it has posted photographs documenting its inventory in detail.
Last June, for instance, it posted a certificate for bitumen that was inspected in Bandar Abbas, Iran, and, according to the post, “loaded for China.”
Last June, for instance, it posted a certificate for bitumen that was inspected in Bandar Abbas, Iran, and, according to the post, “loaded for China.”
Ten days later, it used Instagram to advertise the sale of bitumen. The photo that Signify included showed it was produced by Jey Oil Refinery, an Iranian company that is legally sanctioned by the U.S. because it is owned 50 percent or more by one or more sanctioned entities.
Signify has not been sanctioned itself, but it shares an address in Dubai with Royal Shell Goods Wholesalers L.L.C. Treasury designated Royal Shell in 2023 for assisting a sanctioned front company for Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff in the sale of Iranian commodities.
According to trade data reviewed by Kharon, between October 2020 and July 2023, Signify exported millions of dollars’ worth of petroleum products to major Sri Lankan companies.
Kharon takeaways
The networks, Instagram accounts and public posts of these companies reflect the Iranian petrochemical industry’s continuing global connections, particularly with China. The trend could make U.S. social media platforms an even more valuable public sector tool as the Trump administration looks to identify players, connect dots and keep escalating its pressure.
According to trade data reviewed by Kharon, between October 2020 and July 2023, Signify exported millions of dollars’ worth of petroleum products to major Sri Lankan companies.
Kharon takeaways
The networks, Instagram accounts and public posts of these companies reflect the Iranian petrochemical industry’s continuing global connections, particularly with China. The trend could make U.S. social media platforms an even more valuable public sector tool as the Trump administration looks to identify players, connect dots and keep escalating its pressure.
