US Confirms Seizing Iranian Oil Cargo in April

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Facts

  • The US Dept. of Justice acknowledged for the first time on Friday the seizure of a tanker carrying nearly 1M barrels of Iranian crude oil in April, claiming the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — designated a terrorist organization by Washington — was behind the shipment.1
  • This comes as newly unsealed court filings reveal that the owner of the vessel, Suez Rajan Ltd., pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiring to violate US sanctions against Iran, agreeing to a three-year probation period and a $2.46M fine.2
  • US authorities were able to bring criminal charges in this case as the ship was financed by a British maritime firm, Fleetscape, which is backed by the American investment company Oaktree Capital Management.3
  • The cargo, which was unloaded in August after waiting over two months off the coast of Texas to discharge, is now the subject of a federal civil forfeiture action based on allegations of terrorism and money laundering.4
  • The seizure of the Suez Rajan, which US officials allege was smuggling Iranian oil to China, prompted the IRGC to seize two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, where disputes between the US Navy and Iranian forces have been usual.5
  • While both countries have reportedly taken steps to tentatively de-escalate tensions in recent months, it remains unclear whether the maritime dimension has been included in this understanding.6

Sources: 1Al Jazeera, 2Ft, 3New York Times, 4Reuters, 5FOX News and 6NBC.

Narratives

  • Pro-Iran narrative, as provided by Presstv. The US has just confessed to acts of piracy against an oil tanker carrying Iranian oil in international waters, a practice in which Washington and its allies have engaged since the American withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018. This is a blatant and unacceptable violation of the Iranian nation's rights.
  • Anti-Iran narrative, as provided by Stars and stripes. US sanctions on Iranian oil would alone justify the seizure of the oil tanker as it was part of a smuggling scheme in which multiple actors conspired to evade such sanctions, but there was more to it than that. The Suez Rajan was owned by an American private equity firm at the time of the transfer of oil, giving further leverage to US prosecutors.

Predictions