An oil tanker belonging to Iran’s state-owned shipping line has been switching flags and using multiple companies to transport crude from Syria to Iran, illustrating how Tehran is helping to sidestep international efforts to choke the finances of Bashar al-Assad, Syrian president.

Documents obtained by the Financial Times show the vessel, operated by the Islamic Republic International Shipping Lines, sailed from Syria to the Gulf of Oman and then Iran, using different flags and changing owners.

Oil sanctions imposed by the EU, which bought 95 per cent of Syria’s oil exports, have hit the country particularly hard. The sector accounted for 20 per cent of gross domestic product before the uprising began.

Thats one way to get around those nasty international oil sanctions.