A Greek shipping company has pleaded guilty to smuggling authorized Iranian crude and agreed to pay a $2.4 million fine, newly unsealed US court documents seen Thursday by The Associated Press show.
The open case against Empire Navigation, which faces three years of probation under the plea deal, marks the first public acknowledgment by US prosecutors that America seized about 1 million barrels of oil from the Suez Rajan tanker.
The saga surrounding the ship has further heightened tensions between Washington and Iran, even as they work toward trading billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets in South Korea for the release of five Iranian-Americans held in Tehran.
Court filings also shine a light on Iran’s secretive world of crude oil smuggling in the face of Western sanctions since the collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal – an operation that has only grown in scale over the years.
The US and its allies have seized Iranian oil cargoes since 2019.
In this satellite image provided by PBC’s Planet Labs, a vessel identified as the Virgo, left, and the Suez Rajan, by the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, are seen in the South China Sea on Feb. 13. 2022. AP
This led to a series of attacks in the Middle East linked to the Islamic Republic, as well as the seizure of ships by Iranian military and paramilitary forces that threatened global shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of the world’s oil passes.
Attention first focused on the Suez Rajan in February 2022, when the group United Against Nuclear Iran said it suspected the tanker was carrying oil from Iran’s Khargh Island, its main oil distribution terminal in the Persian Gulf.
Satellite photos and transmission data analyzed at the time by the AP support that claim.
The case against Empire Navigation admits that America seized about 1 million barrels of oil from the Suez tanker Rajan. Bonnie Cash / Pool via CNP / SplashNews.com
Newly released court documents rely on satellite images, as well as documents, to show that Rajan’s Suez tried to cover up the loading of Iranian crude oil from one tanker by trying to claim the oil came from another.
For months, the ship sat in the South China Sea off the northeast coast of Singapore before suddenly sailing to the coast of Texas without explanation.
The ship released its cargo to another tanker, which discharged its oil in Houston in recent days.
KN patrol boat. Marore Island-322, belonging to the Indonesian Maritime Safety Agency, conducts a patrol to check an Iranian-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier near Indonesia’s North Natuna Sea, Indonesia, on July 7, 2023. via REUTERS
Court documents seen Thursday confirm the US government seized the oil.
A lawyer for Empire Navigation, Apostolos Tourkantonis, pleaded guilty to one count of violating sanctions on Iran. Empire, which is based in Athens, Greece, did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Thursday.
The US Treasury says proceeds from Iranian oil smuggling support the Quds Force, the Revolutionary Guard’s expeditionary unit that operates across the Middle East.
The US has seized Iranian oil, leading to attacks in the Middle East linked to the Islamic Republic. ZUMAPRESS.com
The watchdog is suspected of being closely involved in the trade, involving hundreds of vessels that try to cover their movements and can hide their ownership through foreign ammunition companies.
But Rajan’s Suez case is unique at the time of the transfer because it is owned by Los Angeles-based private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management.
That is likely to give American prosecutors an advantage in pursuing this case.
Four ships of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy are seen alongside the guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton in the Gulf. via REUTERS
Oaktree, which has repeatedly declined to discuss the case, sold the vessel outright to Empire in late May.
Mark Wallace, a former US ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush who heads United Against Nuclear Iran, praised Empire Navigation for agreeing to the appeal.
He described the smuggling of Iranian oil as a “mob-like” operation and urged others to abandon the trade.
In this photo, a Navy ship of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is seen near a US Navy ship at close range while operating in the international waters of the North Arabian Gulf on April 15, 2020. EPA
“They are facing Iranian assassination threats in Greece,” Wallace told the AP. “They went off the ramp to leave the group.”
Wallace declined to comment further, and US court documents did not provide details on the alleged threat.
However, the delay in unloading the Suez Rajan cargo has become a political issue for the Biden administration as well because the ship has been sitting for months in the Gulf of Mexico, possibly because the company is concerned about threats from Iran.
Since the Suez Rajan headed for America, Iran has seized two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, including one with cargo for US oil major Chevron Corp.
In July, the top commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s naval force threatened further action against anyone who took down the Suez Rajan, with state media linking the recent seizure to the fate of the cargo.
Iran continued to make threats over the seizure and summoned a Swiss diplomat in Tehran to express its anger.
The delay in unloading the Suez Rajan cargo became an issue for the Biden administration. ZUMAPRESS.com
Switzerland has looked after US interests in Iran since the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy and the hostage crisis.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The US Navy has steadily increased its presence in recent weeks in the Middle East, sending troops and the aircraft carrier USS Bataan through the Strait of Hormuz and considering putting armed personnel on board commercial ships passing through the strait to prevent Iran from seizing additional vessels.
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Late Wednesday, the US updated its warning to shippers transiting the Middle East, saying: “Commercial vessels transiting through the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman continue to be boarded illegally and detained or seized by Iranian forces.”
This year, Iran’s oil exports have mostly exceeded 1 million barrels a day despite American sanctions, according to commodity data firm Kpler.
In May and June, it rose above 1.5 million barrels per day, with August’s figure at 1.4 million barrels per day, Kpler data showed.
China is believed to be the main buyer of Iranian oil, possibly at a substantial discount.
“Justice has been served,” Wallace said. “At the same time, there needs to be a serious policy review of why it’s taking so long and why there are 300 ships out there doing the same thing.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
