Unmasking the IRGC Intelligence Senior Driving Iran's Black-Market Oil
An investigation by Iran International reveals Mostafa Ahadi, a senior IRGC intelligence official, as the mastermind controlling Iran's black-market oil sales network and bypassing international sanctions.
When discussing Iranian oil brokers, reports frequently point to young traders, bank accounts in China, and tankers turning off transponders on the high seas. However, a recent investigation by the opposition outlet Iran International revealed an entirely different figure pulling the strings: Mostafa Ahadi.
According to the investigation, Ahadi is a senior veteran official within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence organization. He serves as deputy head of the clandestine Unit 600 intelligence division and previously held the post of deputy head for economic affairs within the organization. Until now, almost no details had been published about him, and the report exposes his profile for the public for the first time.
The Brain Behind the Oil
Oil is the lifeblood of the Iranian economy. According to OPEC data, Iran exported roughly 2 million barrels per day of crude oil, condensates, and petroleum products last year, while the central bank noted that oil accounted for some 65% of total exports. Nearly all of it flows to China: in 2025, Chinese refineries purchased an average of some 1.38 million barrels per day, representing over 80% of Iran's crude exports. To offset the risk of sanctions, Iran has been forced to offer a discount of roughly $5 per barrel.
This takes place alongside alternative mechanisms operating beneath the Western radar. About a decade and a half ago, following the imposition of international sanctions on Iran, the country's National Security Council began effectively managing oil sales in place of the Ministry of Petroleum. Ahadi began serving there as deputy for economic affairs—a role that serves as a cover for his true activities. He has attended two BRICS summits, in Russia and Brazil, without his true role—as the man controlling the management of Iranian oil sales—becoming known to international officials. Even today, he takes part in official delegations and visits to oil terminals on Kharg Island under his guise as deputy for economic affairs.
What Is Known About Mostafa Ahadi?
■ Serves as deputy head of the clandestine Unit 600 intelligence division within the IRGC.
■ Regarded as the mastermind behind the black-market oil sales mechanism.
■ Operates a massive network of brokers and traders ("trustees") for selling oil.
■ Routinely participates in official delegations and summits abroad under the cover role of "deputy for economic affairs."
■ Answers to no government or oversight bodies, effectively enjoying absolute immunity.
Ahadi certainly does not operate alone. According to the investigation, he runs a vast network of brokers who sell oil right under the American nose. These brokers, dubbed "trustees" in the report, receive barrels of oil, sell them to international entities, and transfer the proceeds back to the state.
Furthermore, Ahadi dispatched his former deputy, Mohammad Javad Bouvand, to oversee oil sales. Within this framework, Bouvand was appointed some four months ago as a special assistant to the minister of petroleum. According to Iran International, a state oversight body document even attributes to him the decision to sell 86 million barrels to these "trustees."
Two weeks prior to publication, after previous investigations thrust Bouvand and Momenin into the headlines, Iran International told Globes that a clandestine meeting took place at the IRGC communications headquarters. According to the report, Ahadi, Bouvand, and a senior Iranian general participated, with the objective of suppressing media coverage of the affair.
Power Without Oversight
A senior source at Iran International describes Ahadi's case. According to the source, Iran's two intelligence agencies—the IRGC intelligence organization and the Ministry of Intelligence—each maintain their own network of brokers managed by senior officials within each body. The trustees are "essentially pawns in the hands of the security apparatus," and over $100 billion of the nation's oil revenues has been pilfered along the way. For comparison, the source notes that Iran's frozen funds, which the regime is currently negotiating with the US to release, amount to $24 billion—roughly a quarter of the sum siphoned off.
The source adds that Ahadi enjoys unchecked power: "He is answerable neither to the government nor to any oversight body. On the contrary, the judicial system is at his disposal, and he uses it to settle scores." At times, he even leaks information regarding his rivals to the US Department of Treasury via intermediaries so that sanctions will be imposed upon them.
Consequently, the source argues, Western sanctions are ineffective against him: "The US and Europe occasionally impose sanctions on some of the trustees, but it does not really help because they are immediately replaced. In my view, the focus must be directed at the security organizations and their senior brass.
"The fact that a senior IRGC intelligence figure like Ahadi can freely participate in international conferences such as BRICS under a cover title, and find buyers for black-market oil there, demonstrates that significant gaps remain in efforts to disrupt the financing of the Islamic Republic. These oligarchs have an interest in preserving the regime, a corrupt system that lines their pockets."
Iran International points out that the annual budget law authorizes the armed forces—meaning the IRGC—to sell half a million barrels of oil per day, leading to the conclusion: "This shows that this corruption is structural. The IRGC is so powerful that even if they fail to transfer half of these revenues, no institution can stop them."
