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 weapons program and because of Iran's support for various terrorist groups, 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. The sanctions against IRISL were removed in 2016 after the signing of the Iran nuclear deal, but reimposed by the US in 2018. 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. Fleet 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. Ports and maritime organization The Ports and shipping organization is a government agency under the authority of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, responsible for supervising maritime trade and the operation of commercial ports and shipping in Iranian waters. Marine transport is dependent on auxiliary capacities and facilities including ports, roads, railroad and so on. Therefore, the port and shipping organization of Iran agreed in 2004 for IRISL Port, a subsidiary of IRISL, to operative the container terminals in Bandar Khorramshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini, both on the Persian Gulf. In addition, according to an agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, a joint company was established to launch an express container line from southern Iranian ports to major destinations inside the country, as well as to CIS countries.