Myanmar Hides Iranian Jet Fuel With Fake Diesel Labels

Myanmar used incorrect paperwork to conceal the arrival of Iranian jet fuel, according to shipping records and government letters.

The vessel Reef arrived in December 2025 carrying roughly 113,000 barrels of fuel. Contract documents described the cargo as South African diesel. In reality, the ship was transporting jet fuel from Iran.

Dynamic Wave, a Myanmar-based energy broker, signed a contract worth $15.8 million with Thailand's Tawan-Oil Trading. The deal specified the delivery of diesel. United Nations data and Vortexa records show no trade of that specific type occurred between South Africa and Myanmar during 2025. SynMax Intelligence tracked the Reef from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas to Southeast Asia.

The mislabeling served to evade sanctions. Washington targeted Myanmar's jet fuel industry in 2023. The US cited the military's bombing of civilian targets during its conflict with rebel forces. Buyers of Iranian oil also face broad US restrictions.

Myanmar officials participated in the process. A letter dated November 30 came from the country's foreign exchange regulator. It instructed the client of Dynamic Wave to issue import papers describing the load as diesel. The letter authorized payment to Tawan. It provided no reason for the change in description.

The client is National Energy Prime Aviation Services Company. It is partly owned by Myanmar's military-backed government. The activist group Justice for Myanmar obtained the documents from a junta-run server that was briefly accessible to the public. Reuters found a dead link to one file in search results, indicating it had been hosted on that server. The delivery dates and quantities in the documents match separate Iranian shipment records.

Payment for the contract was directed to Tawan's account at Siam Commercial Bank. A 2024 UN report named Tawan as a supplier to the military. The report described the bank as a major facilitator of military procurement. The bank stated it follows anti-money-laundering laws. It claimed its Myanmar-related transactions were legitimate and unconnected to the arms trade.

This was not the first instance of such a deal. In May 2025, Dynamic Wave agreed to buy 202,000 barrels of supposed South African diesel from Tawan for $26 million. Joshua Heyne, a jet fuel expert at Washington State University, analyzed the invoice. He found the fuel density matched jet fuel. The price was more than 50% above the global diesel benchmark. The tanker Noble delivered just under 200,000 barrels to Yangon on June 17. SynMax said the ship loaded in Bandar Abbas and broadcast signals indicating a destination in Chittagong, Bangladesh.

The military seized power in 2021. The United Nations reported in August that air attacks have killed thousands, many of them civilians. The foreign ministry said the military exercises maximum restraint. Reuters reported in January that Iran was the main jet fuel supplier for the military between October 2024 and December 2025. Shipments have continued into the current year.