Hong Kong helped bankroll Irans terror network, bombshell report claims

Hong Kong has become a critical financial and logistical lifeline for Iran’s regime — helping move illicit oil, weapons technology and surveillance tools that fuel Tehran’s military machine and domestic repression, according to a bombshell report set for release Monday.The 26-page report by the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, titled “Oil, Arms, and Cash: How Hong Kong Fuels the Iranian Regime,” alleges that dozens of Hong Kong-based companies have helped Iran evade Western sanctions while funneling billions of dollars into the hands of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its terror proxies.“Simply put, without Hong Kong’s help, Iran would not have the money and the missiles that make it so dangerous,” the report states.“The evidence is consistent and damning,” the report says, citing “Hong Kong’s easy registration of shell companies, its globally connected banking sector, its secretive corporate services infrastructure, and the indifference of its government to Western law enforcement cooperation.”The report details how Hong Kong-linked firms allegedly facilitated the shipment of Iranian crude oil to China through shadow fleets using deceptive ship-to-ship transfers and falsified cargo documents.Since 2020, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated at least 95 Hong Kong-incorporated entities for Iran-related sanctions violations, according to an appendix included in the report.Among the cases cited was Hong Kong-based Petronix Energy Trading Ltd., which US authorities accused in February 2025 of purchasing “hundreds of thousands of metric tons of Iranian crude oil” for shipment to China.The report also alleges Hong Kong has become a major hub for funneling Western-made electronics and drone components into Iran’s weapons programs.Investigators cited battlefield forensic evidence allegedly linking Hong Kong transshipment networks to components recovered from Iranian Shahed dron...