Among other things, the Iranian tanker "Pandi" was confiscated by US authorities
Photo: - / AFPThe US claims to have confiscated the cargoes of four oil tankers en route from Iran to Venezuela. In total, more than a million barrels of oil were seized, as confirmed by the US Department of Justice.
The seizure of the four tankers "Bella", "Bering", "Pandi" and "Luna" was ordered in July. According to reports from the "Wall Street Journal", the ships are on their way to the US city of Houston. The US had imposed sanctions on both Iran and Venezuela in the past.
On Thursday, the US military accused Iranian security forces of boarding a tanker in the Gulf of Oman. As the US central command Centcom tweeted on Wednesday, the Iranians stopped the tanker "Wila" with two ships and a helicopter in international waters. The Iranians held the tanker for four to five hours and then released it. The Ministry of Justice accused Iran of trying to get the seized oil back.
Iranian oil tankers for Venezuela
Venezuela is the most oil-rich country in the world, but there are currently severe supply bottlenecks in the South American country for both fuel and other consumer goods. The government of head of state Nicolás Maduro blames US sanctions for this, and its opponents accuse it of years of mismanagement. Because of the supply crisis, Iran, which is also subject to US sanctions, had already sent oil tankers to Venezuela beforehand.
The US government is accusing Iranian businessman Mahmud Madanipur, who is believed to have ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, of having arranged the deliveries.
The Iranian ambassador to Venezuela, Hojat Soltani, denied any connection between Iran and the tankers. "Neither the ships, nor their owners or their flag have anything to do with Iran," tweeted Soltani.
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