The Justice Department reported this Friday of the "successful" seizure of a shipment of fuel belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran and that was heading towards Venezuela.
"It is the largest ever seizure of fuel shipments from Iran by the government," he said in a statement.
According to the document, authorities have “successfully” executed an embargo order issued by District of Columbia Judge Jeb Boasberg, in response to a complaint filed by the United States on July 2 to seize all petroleum products transported by ships .
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The oil was transported in four ships, called Luna , Pandi , Bering and Bella . 1,116 million barrels have been seized, with the help of foreign partners who were not identified.
The Bering and the Bella were sailing through Cape Verde waters when the federal government filed the lawsuit for their seizure in July, while the last known signal of the Pandi and the Luna was in Oman.
An oil slick affects a marine reserve in Venezuela
Aug. 10, 202000: 28The president, Donald Trump, has said that they are now heading towards the port of Houston (Texas). "They are not supposed to be doing that, Iran should not be doing that," the president said.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that more and more shipping fleets are avoiding trade with Iran and Venezuela due to US sanctions.
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In October 2017, the United States sanctioned the Islamic Revolutionary Guard for its alleged support of terrorism. The decision was made, in particular, for "supporting the Al Quds Force, the main Iranian entity facilitating the President's (Syrian Bachar al) Assad's incessant campaign of brutal violence against his own people , as well as the deadly activities of Hezbollah. and Hamas, and other terrorist groups. "
According to the Justice Department, after the interception operation, the Iranian Navy "forcibly boarded an unrelated vessel (to the subjects of the seizure) in an apparent attempt to recover the seized oil ," without success.
The value of the seized cargo can be directed "totally or partially" to the fund for victims of terrorism, detailed the Department of Justice.
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Aug. 8, 202000: 28Federal prosecutors in Washington allege that the sale of the fuel was arranged by a businessman, Mahmud Madanipour, linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard . At the time, sanctions experts believed that it would be impossible to enforce a US court order in international waters.
[20 years in prison: two former US military men accused of participating in an armed incursion against Maduro were convicted in Venezuela]
A senior federal official told The Associated Press news agency Thursday that force was not used to carry out the seizures and that the vessels were not physically seized.
Instead, US officials threatened the owners, insurers and captains of the ships with penalties to force them to surrender their cargo, which has now become US property, according to the official.
The Iranian ambassador in Caracas, Hojat Soltani, said Thursday that the four ships "have nothing to do with Iran . "
The Trump administration has been stepping up pressure on ship owners to comply with sanctions imposed on US adversaries such as Iran, Venezuela and North Korea.
In May, it issued an advisory urging the global maritime sector to remain alert to tactics to evade sanctions such as dangerous ship-to-ship transfers and the shutdown of mandatory tracking devices , both used in recent crude deliveries from Iran to Venezuela. .
One of the companies involved in the shipments to Venezuela, the Avantgarde Group, was previously linked to the Revolutionary Guard and attempts to evade US sanctions, according to prosecutors.
An Avantgarde affiliate facilitated the purchase for the Revolutionary Guard of Grace 1, a vessel seized last year by Britain due to US allegations that it was carrying oil to Syria.
Iran denied the allegations and Grace 1 was eventually released. However, the seizure sparked an international crisis in which Tehran in retaliation confiscated a British-flagged ship.
According to the lawsuit for the asset seizure, a company not mentioned by name billed Avantgarde a cash payment of $ 14.9 million in February for the sale of gasoline on board the Pandi. However, a text message between Madanipour and another unnamed conspirator suggests that there were difficulties in making the crossing.
"The owner of the boat does not want to go because of the American threat, but we want him to go, and we even agreed that we will also buy the boat," the message stated, according to an excerpt from the lawsuit.
With information from EFE and AP
