Ofer Brother Group, an Israeli family shipping business and the country’s one of the most powerful corporations, has been blamed for business deals with Iran.

The company, which has always escaped from scandals unharmed, faces new allegations of setting up business deals with Iran which may not end the same way this time.

Also, Ofer Bros is one of seven companies punished by the United States when they were singled out after it sold a tanker to an Iranian front company and breached the US sanctions.

Ofer, owned by octogenarian brothers Yuli and Sammy Ofer, is now facing an unparalleled storm of domestic condemnation which has been instigated by a long-standing hostility to a company that has faced controversy in its business dealings.

The controversy erupted last week when the US claimed that the company had sold a tanker to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines for an estimated $8.6 million through its Singapore-based subsidiary Tanker Pacific.

Back at home, the company came under fire when a local newspaper reported the ships belonging to companies owned by the group had docked in Iranian ports to load and offload at least 13 times in the past decade.

Other companies which faced similar consequences in the past were Lloyds TSB, Barclays and Credit Suisse, Weir Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

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