The US authorities have sanctioned the 53-year-old Danish businessman Martin Kaalund, who lives in Dubai and works in the Middle East shipping industry.
The Dane was sanctioned on 14 July and is linked to several companies that, according to the US, work closely with the sanctioned Iranian businessman Hussein Shamkhani.
Danwatch can report this based on a review of the US sanctions agency OFAC’s database and Martin Kaalund’s history in a number of different companies believed to have links to Shamkhani.
One of the companies is House of Shipping, which the the US believes is used by the so-called Shamkhani network to evade sanctions.
“Kaalund, a Danish national (…) spent years as executive of sanctioned Shamkhani shipping oversight company House of Shipping Investment FZCO, most recently as the global chief financial officer,” OFAC writes, going on to describe Kaalund’s position as a “key role” in the operation.
The Shamkhani network has ties reaching all the way up into Iran’s clerical regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Danwatch has spoken to Martin Kaalund, who rejects all the allegations.
“I am aware of the OFAC designation and am deeply concerned by it. I reject any claim that I have supported the IRGC (the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, ed.) or contributed to the evasion of US sanctions,” he writes.
He adds that he is in the process of fighting the sanctioning.
“I have sought legal advice to challenge the designation through the relevant administrative procedures. As the case is political, not legal, and a successful de-listing may depend on my cooperation with relevant US authorities, I am not able to comment on further details of the case publicly at this time,” says Martin Kaalund.
“I take the allegations very seriously and intend to clear my name.”
Being sanctioned by OFAC has severe consequences for an individual, as you are completely cut off from the entire international financial system and your dollar assets are immediately frozen. At the same time, banks and companies often cut ties with sanctioned individuals for fear of being hit by secondary sanctions.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs tells Danwatch that it is aware that a Danish citizen has been sanctioned by the US. The ministry will not comment further.
Powerful family behind the network
As part of the US campaign against Iran, the Americans have adopted the sanctions package ‘Economic Fury’, a play on words on the military actions against Iran, which are called operation ‘Epic Fury’.
They are aimed at the Iranian tycoon Hussein Shamkhani and his family network, which plays a decisive role in evading US sanctions against Iran.
The Shamkhani network is a very particular entity because the family patriarch, Admiral Ali Shamkhani, was “among the ten most powerful figures in Iran,” explains Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the US Middle East Institute. Ali Shamkhani was killed in Israel’s and the US’s initial strikes on Iran in February 2026.
Traditionally, it would be Iran’s national oil company that handled exports. But because of the sanctions, the trade has been outsourced to a few individuals in the country, who in return are allowed to line their own pockets at the same time – such as the Shamkhani family, says Alex Vatanka.
“Normally the state would handle the sale of oil, but the Shamkhani family can sell oil outside the normal channels and exploit their name and political influence,” he says.
However, it all happens with the blessing of the clerical regime, and it is probably in cooperation with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Alex Vatanka says.
“They are very good at smuggling – it’s what they have always done,” he says.
Kaalund’s links to the network
In addition to being CFO at House of Shipping, Martin Kaalund has also held a board seat in another Shamkhani-related company called Sea Lead.
Sea Lead was also in the spotlight in 2025, when it was linked to 16 Iranian shadow fleet vessels that were sanctioned by the US. The company denied having worked with the Shamkhani network and shortly afterwards got rid of the ships.
In March 2026, it happened again, and OFAC seized DKK 15.5 million from Sea Lead, which was allegedly payment for shipping sanctioned goods out of Iran on behalf of the Shamkhani network.
The Americans claimed to have obtained internal organisational charts showing that Sea Lead was actively part of the Shamkhani organisation.
Sea Lead is also accused by OFAC of having delivered “both legal and illegal cargo” to the Houthis in Yemen.
Like Martin Kaalund and House of Shipping, the company was sanctioned on 14 July. The company is now being liquidated because it is not possible to continue operations under the sanctions.
The founder of Sea Lead, who is no longer part of the company, has also previously held an executive position in another Shamkhani company, Draco Buren, which is also sanctioned for managing Iranian shadow fleet vessels.
Draco Buren was sanctioned by the US on 30 July 2025 for “managing the Hussein network’s (Shamkhani, ed.) fleet” and having control over 21 oil and cargo vessels.
According to OFAC, Sea Lead and Draco Buren work very closely together.
Another company that was sanctioned on 14 July 2026 for being part of the Shamkhani network is We Freight.
According to a permit application from 2024 on the website of the US maritime agency FMC, Martin Kaalund has been chairman of the board of that company.
One of the Shamkhani network’s ships, Nora, recently called at Denmark, when it was detained by police at the request of the US.
At the time, Danwatch was able to reveal that the ship was sailing on forged papers.
The ship was searched by specialists from the Danish Emergency Management Agency’s chemical response unit, and the authorities have told Danwatch that they still cannot say what the detention was about, as the case is still considered an active criminal investigation.
A labyrinth of companies
The US keeps a close watch on all trade out of Iran, and so the Iranians have to be extremely creative to evade sanctions.
For example, when the Iranians need to sell oil, they constantly have to erase the paper trail so the US does not discover where the products end up, Alex Vatanka explains. Much of that oil ends up in China, among other places.
“And who has enough influence to say that this trade to China must not be registered anywhere? The Shamkhani family ,” he says.
The Shamkhani network uses companies in countries such as Dubai to smuggle sanctioned goods out of the country, and companies are eager to assist according to Alex Vatanka.
“Many countries are willing to help Iran break sanctions because they do not want US Iran policy to work. In Dubai alone there are 8,000 Iranian companies, many with ties to the regime,” he says. He calls it a “maze of companies” that is difficult to see through.
Many of the companies behind the Shamkhani network also have ties to China, Alex Vatanka explains.
“Iran has developed one of the most sophisticated systems for sanctions evasion the world has seen. The Shamkhani network is probably the best-known element of a much larger phenomenon that has been building for many years,” he says.
Both Sea Lead and Draco Buren are registered entities in Singapore.
Martin Kaalund’s own company, Evorit Consulting, which has also been sanctioned by the US, is based in Dubai along with House of Shipping.