Dominica revokes citizenship of second son of Iranian political adviser

Dominica has revoked the citizenship of Abolfazl Shamkhani, the younger son of slain Iranian political adviser Ali Shamkhani, marking the second time in eight months that the Caribbean nation has stripped a member of the Shamkhani family of a Dominican passport.

According to a letter obtained by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the revocation was signed on March 27, 2026, by State Minister Daren Pinard. Authorities accused Shamkhani of concealing material facts when he acquired citizenship through Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program in 2020 under the alias “Sami Hayek.” He has 25 days to request a formal inquiry into the order.

Abolfazl’s older brother, Hossein, lost his Dominican passport in August 2025. As reported then by Dominica News Online, he had obtained citizenship under the name “Hugo Hayek.” Western governments had already sanctioned Hossein weeks earlier, alleging he ran a multibillion-dollar oil-smuggling network benefiting Iran and Russia.

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) described the family’s pattern as acquiring foreign passports through investment to obscure ties to Iran while conducting international business.

An OCCRP investigation in March revealed that the brothers owned at least four luxury villas in Dubai worth nearly US$29 million, registered under their Dominican aliases. Corporate records also tied “Sami Hayek” to a Cyprus-based investment fund and both brothers to a Turkish chemical firm later sanctioned by OFAC.

On March 6, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice filed civil forfeiture complaints targeting more than US$15.3 million linked to the Shamkhani network. Prosecutors alleged that Abolfazl managed firms connected to his brother’s operations, though he has not been personally sanctioned or charged.

Days before Abolfazl’s citizenship was revoked, Dominica suspended all new Iranian applications to its CBI program, effective March 24. Iranians may now apply only if they have not lived in Iran for at least a decade, hold no assets there, and have conducted no business with the country.

Dominica has revoked 68 CBI passports since June 2024 for fraud or misrepresentation, with Iranians accounting for 6 percent of those cases.

Dominica’s CBI program is under heightened scrutiny from the United States and the European Union. Washington has imposed visa restrictions on Dominican nationals, while the EU has warned that operating such programs could lead to suspension of visa-free travel.