Miami: US President Donald Trump’s administration has seized four tankers trying to deliver oil to Venezuela from Iran. US officials said on Thursday that this action was taken to increase pressure on the two banned countries. Last month, federal prosecutors in Washington filed a case alleging that the sale was arranged by a businessman with ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. The US has declared the Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.
At the time, sanctions experts believed it would be impossible to enforce a US court order in international waters. A senior US official told AP that military force was not used in the operation. He said the tankers have not been confiscated, rather the US authorities threatened the yacht owners and the captain with sanctions, after which they handed over these to the authorities. It is now the property of America. Another US official said that there is no information about where the boats or their belongings are right now. Prosecutors alleged that four boats were carrying 1.1 million barrels of oil to Venezuela. These tankers named Bella, Baring, Pandi and Luna never reached South American country and went missing. Two boats later appeared near Cape Verde. Iran’s ambassador to Venezuela, Hozad Sultani, tweeted on Thursday that neither the boats nor their owners are Iranian.
