IRISL Group

Due to the increase in the volume of imports into Iran since early 1960, many foreign-flagged vessels began to arrive in Iranian ports, which caused some concerns to the government. Considering the nation's long coastline and accessibility to open seas, the government initiated a research study to determine the feasibility of a national shipping line. The research study began in 1961, and in August 1967 the first general assembly meeting approved the establishment of the Iranian National Shipping Company under the name Arya Shipping Lines.

Arya Shipping started in 1967 with six vessels. Two smaller vessels with a capacity of 1,000 and 1,550 tonnes operated in the Persian Gulf area, and four ocean-going vessels (Arya Sep, Arya Far, Arya Naz and Arya Gaam) with a total capacity of 61,252 tonnes provided services to Europe, Asia and the Americas. By the end of 1978, with an increasing shipping volume and an expanding national economy, the fleet consisted of 42 vessels with a total capacity of 525,000 DWT.

After the Islamic Revolution and changes to economic policies, Arya Shipping was renamed on 5 January 1979 to Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL). The company was responsible to the Ministry of Commerce.

During the Iran–Iraq War, numerous vessels were destroyed by missile attacks, such as Arya Boom, Arya Jahan, Arya Shaad, Arya Omid, which cost the IRISL dearly. After the war, all the vessels were renamed to names of martyrs and cities with the prefix Iran

With the imposition of US sanctions because of the Iranian nuclear program IRISL has been using shell companies and renamed its ships to continue trading in sanctioned goods. The Khazar Sea Shipping Lines, for example, was established in 2006 to operate in the Caspian Sea. KSSL now owns and operates sixteen general cargo vessels.

UN sanctions against IRISL were removed in 2016 after the signing of the Iran nuclear deal,.The US reimposed its own "sanctions" in 2018 in violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and JCPoA.

In August 2015, Mohammad Saeedi was appointed managing director of IRISL, succeeding Mohammad Hossein Dajmar, who had held the position for 10 years. Saeedi stepped down in July 2019, and was succeeded by Mohammad Reza Modarres Khiyabani, who had been a board member at IRISL for a number of years.

The International Maritime Organization has 140 member states with Iran ranking among the top 20. Iran planned to add 16 cargo ships to its naval fleet by mid-March 2010 to increase the total capacity to 5.8 million DWT. The number of cargo ships in 2009 was 154, from 138 in 2008. In 2011, IRISL had the biggest fleet in the Middle East with about 170 vessels, though the sanctions adversely impacted its fleet.

International sanctions

IRISL is under sanctions by the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and other parties.

The United States implemented the first series of sanctions against IRISL in September 2008. Stuart Levey, the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, explained, "Not only does IRISL facilitate the transport of cargo for U.N. designated proliferators, it also falsifies documents and uses deceptive schemes to shroud its involvement in illicit commerce IRISL's actions are part of a broader pattern of deception and fabrication that Iran uses to advance its nuclear and missile programs. That conduct should give pause to any financial institution or business still choosing to deal with Iran."

The UN followed with sanctions against IRISL in June 2010 as part of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929. The European Union implemented its own sanctions against IRISL a month later in July 2010.

In 2012, the United States moved to clamp down on IRISL's use of deceptive front companies to shield its activities.

In October 2020, the US imposed sanctions on Chinese companies for doing business with IRISL, and in January 2021, the US sanctioned companies in Iran, China and the United Arab Emirates for doing business with IRISL.