A Reuters investigation has found that Myanmar disguised a shipment of sanctioned Iranian jet fuel as South African diesel, using sham paperwork and a sales contract describing a trade which, according to United Nations and shipping data, never took place.

Source: Reuters

In December 2025, the US-sanctioned tanker Reef arrived in Myanmar waters carrying some 113,000 barrels of fuel — yaani about 1.13 lakh barrels. Myanmar-based energy broker Dynamic Wave had ordered the shipment under a $15.8 million contract (yaani about 1.58 crore dollars, roughly Rs 139 crore) with Thailand's Tawan-Oil Trading, supposedly to take delivery of a similar amount of South African diesel.

Source: Reuters

But there was no such trade between South Africa and Myanmar in 2025, according to data from the United Nations and Vortexa, a shipping and energy data provider, reviewed by Reuters. In reality, the news agency reported, the Reef carried jet fuel from Iran, based on fuel shipment records and on satellite images and analysis by SynMax Intelligence, which tracked the tanker from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas to Southeast Asia.

Reuters reported that Myanmar's military junta was involved in the ruse. Days before the Reef arrived, Myanmar's foreign exchange regulator told the client of Dynamic Wave that it would issue import documentation labelling the delivery as diesel “instead of jet fuel”, according to a copy of the agency's November 30 letter seen by Reuters. The document was provided to Reuters by the activist group Justice for Myanmar, and it did not explain the purpose of the mislabelling. The letter also authorised Dynamic Wave and its client, National Energy Prime Aviation Services Company, to pay Tawan for the shipment.

113,000 barrelsJet fuel carried by the tanker Reef, per Reuters
$15.8 millionValue of the disguised contract — yaani roughly Rs 139 crore
109,604 tonnesAviation fuel imported by Myanmar in 2025, per Amnesty International

The deception mattered because the United States in 2023 imposed targeted sanctions on Myanmar's jet-fuel industry, citing the deadly bombing campaign waged by the country's military against civilian targets as it fights a rebel-led insurgency. All purchasers of Iranian oil and fuel are also exposed to sweeping American sanctions, Reuters noted.

An independent Amnesty International investigation painted a similar picture of a supply chain built to evade detection. Amnesty said Myanmar Port Authority data showed at least 109,604 tonnes of aviation fuel were imported into Myanmar in 2025 — 69 percent more than in 2024 and the highest amount in any year since the military seized power in 2021 — much of it on “ghost ships” that switch off their location-tracking radios. Amnesty said 2025 was the deadliest year on record for aerial attacks since the takeover.

Source: Amnesty International

The United Nations has said junta air strikes have killed thousands of people in Myanmar since the 2021 coup. Reuters said the details of how the purchases were disguised, and of the entities involved in the transactions, were reported for the first time in its investigation.