The United Nations reported that Iran has become one of the main routes for the export of Somali charcoal to Emirates, and this is a violation of the UN security council resolution.

According to a Reuters, the new report by the United Nations sanction monitoring team on Somalia, which has not been viewed by the public yet, states that the Al-Shabaab terrorist group has created a significant revenue stream through exporting charcoal, and one of the main routes for their illegal trade is Iran.

According to the report, Alshabaab’s financial network has been more “systematic and creative” than the Somali federal government and since the beginning of 2018, Iranian harbors have been the main destinations for their manufactured charcoal.

In these harbors, the charcoal is packaged in white boxes labeled “product of Iran”. The boxes are sent to Al-Hamriya by big boats. Charcoal is mostly used for cooking and hookahs in Emirates. United Nation report concludes that the Islamic Republic and the United Arab Emirates did not cooperate with UN investigators. Investigators have estimated that the value of the Somali charcoal exported to Emirates is close to 150 million dollars a year.

Charcoal is one of the main sources of income for the Al- Shabab Terrorist group.