US seizes four vessels loaded with Iranian fuel UPDATE

John Bowden
The Hill
Thu, 13 Aug 2020 07:49 UTC

© www.justice.gov

Tanker 'Bella', one of four seized ships

U.S. officials reportedly seized four tankers loaded with Iranian fuel and are transporting them to port in Houston.

A U.S. official confirmed the seizure of the four vessels, dubbed the Bering, Bella, Luna and Pandi, in a statement to the Wall Street Journal, and explained further that the craft were seized without the use of military force. It wasn't immediately clear where the seizures occurred or which U.S. agencies were involved.

The Justice Department declined to comment to the Journal on the seizures. The tankers were all allegedly part of a scheme set up by an Iranian businessman affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard Corps., which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization, to evade U.S. sanctions on business with Iran and its military.

Iranian forces briefly seized an oil tanker marked with a Liberian flag near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, holding it for several hours before releasing it. In a statement retweeted by U.S. Central Command on Thursday, the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) responded:

"Iran's use of its military forces to conduct an armed boarding of a commercial vessel in international waters constitutes a blatant violation of international law that undermines freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce.

"We call on Iran to articulate to the international community the legal basis for its actions. This type of reckless, aggressive behavior by Iran destabilizes the region and threatens the rules based international order."

At a private fundraiser in recent days, President Trump promised to reach a deal with Iranian leaders within days of his reelection should he defeat former Vice President Joe Biden (D) in November, according to video first reported by Jewish Insider. "When we win," the president says in the video, "we will have a deal [with Iran] within four weeks."

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have continued to simmer for months following a U.S. strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general, in January while he was traveling near Baghdad's airport in Iraq, as well as a retaliatory strike on a base housing U.S. troops.

Comment: The DOJ claims this seizure was the largest so far - 1.116 million barrels of fuel - but details are scant as to who is helping the US police foreign tankers:

Iran's ambassador to Venezuela, Hojat Soltani, insisted in a tweet that "the ships are not Iranian" while calling the claim about the seizures "another lie and psychological warfare from the propaganda machine of the US."

Washington's high-seas score stems from a July court complaint demanding the four tankers in question "forfeit all petroleum-product cargo" due to its having been shipped by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the statement.

The Trump administration has leveled a bewildering array of sanctions against Iran, flooded the Persian Gulf with US military assets, and offered millions of dollars in bribes to Iranian ship captains to deliver their oil tankers into the hands of Uncle Sam.

Trump confirmed in a press conference on Friday that the Iranian cargo had been diverted to Houston, though he demurred when asked what would be done with the ships once they arrived. "We'll be announcing," he told reporters.

Predictably, Iran rejected the US report, refuting claims of seizure by the US:

Iran's Ambassador to Venezuela, Hojat Soltani, further stated that Tehran would retaliate against any hostile actions directed against its ships and Iran's legal right to ship its goods.

The Marine Traffic service shows that all four vessels presumably seized by the US have not updated their positions in the tracking system since May or June, with most of them sailing under the Liberian flag.

However, the media claims that the tankers were privately owned and allegedly hired by Iran for the job. The Wall Street Journal claims they were originally a part of a larger flotilla allegedly sailing towards Venezuela and escorted by an Iranian Navy ship, but these four peeled off from the group at some point.

UPDATE 15/8/2020: Rouhani denies US statements on tanker seizures as fake news.