Myanmar broker swapped diesel labels for Iranian jet fuel

Dynamic Wave, an energy broker based in Myanmar, imported a tanker load of fuel in December 2025 that arrived with contracts describing it as diesel. The cargo, however, was jet fuel shipped from Iran. The vessel, the Reef, is under US sanctions. Documents and shipping data reviewed by Reuters confirm the discrepancy between the paperwork and the physical load.

The specific shipment involved approximately 113,000 barrels. Dynamic Wave signed a contract worth $15.8 million with Tawan-Oil Trading, a Thai firm. The contract specified South African diesel as the commodity. Yet data from the United Nations and the platform Vortexa show no record of diesel trade between South Africa and Myanmar in 2025. Satellite tracking by SynMax Intelligence placed the Reef at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas before it traveled to Southeast Asia.

The mislabeling served to bypass restrictions. Washington imposed targeted sanctions on Myanmar’s jet fuel sector in 2023. The move followed reports of the military using airstrikes against civilian targets in its fight against rebels. Buying Iranian oil also triggers broad American sanctions. The disguise allowed the fuel to enter the country while technically complying with import categories that faced less scrutiny.

Myanmar’s own regulators facilitated the cover-up. A letter dated November 30 from the country’s foreign exchange regulator instructed the client of Dynamic Wave to issue import papers listing the cargo as diesel rather than jet fuel. The regulator provided no explanation for the change in documentation. The letter also approved payments to Tawan. The client, National Energy Prime Aviation Services Company, is partially owned by Myanmar’s military-backed government.

The activist group Justice for Myanmar obtained the documents from a server run by the junta that was briefly accessible to the public. The group supplied the files to Reuters. Search engine results showed a dead link to one of the files, indicating it had been hosted on that server. Delivery dates and quantities in the internal documents matched Iranian shipment records reviewed separately by the news agency.

Payment for the fuel went to Tawan’s account at Siam Commercial Bank. A 2024 report by UN experts identified Tawan as a jet fuel supplier to the Myanmar military. The report also named the bank as a key facilitator of the military’s procurement operations. Siam Commercial Bank stated it follows anti-money-laundering laws and claimed its transactions were legitimate. Reuters could not determine if the bank knew Tawan was supplying jet fuel.

This was not the first instance of the scheme. In May 2025, Dynamic Wave agreed to buy 202,000 barrels of purported South African diesel from Tawan for $26 million. Joshua Heyne, a jet fuel expert at Washington State University, analyzed the invoice. He noted the fuel density matched jet fuel, not diesel. 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 data showed the vessel loaded in Bandar Abbas and broadcast signals indicating a route to Chittagong, Bangladesh.

The military seized power in Myanmar in 2021, starting a civil war. The United Nations reported in August that the military has killed thousands of people, including many civilians, in air attacks. The foreign ministry responded by saying the military exercises maximum restraint. Reuters reported in January that Iran became the military’s main jet fuel supplier between October 2024 and December 2025. Shipments continued through October 2026. The effort to hide the trade suggests the sanctions are creating friction, but the fuel continues to flow. The earnings support Tehran’s foreign currency reserves and fund both commercial flights and military air raids in Myanmar. Dynamic Wave, National Energy Prime, Tawan, Siam Commercial Bank, and the relevant authorities in Thailand, Myanmar, and Iran did not respond to requests for comment.