U.S. seizes nearly a million barrels of oil over Iran oil sanction violations

Doug Cunningham
·2 min read
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The U.S. Justice Department said Friday nearly a million barrels of Iranian oil was seized and Suez Rajan Ltd. pleaded guilty to violating sanctions on Iranian oil. Shown is supertanker Grace 1 intercepted by British Royal Marines and suspected of transporting crude oil to a refinery in Syria against EU sanctions. Photo by A. Carrasco Ragel/EPA-EFE
The U.S. Justice Department said Friday nearly a million barrels of Iranian oil was seized and Suez Rajan Ltd. pleaded guilty to violating sanctions on Iranian oil. Shown is supertanker Grace 1 intercepted by British Royal Marines and suspected of transporting crude oil to a refinery in Syria against EU sanctions. Photo by A. Carrasco Ragel/EPA-EFE

Sept. 8 (UPI) -- The Department of Justice announced Friday the first successful disruption of a multimillion-dollar shipment of sanctioned Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps oil. More than 980,000 barrels were seized.

It's the first criminal resolution involving a company that violated Iranian oil sanctions.

Suez Rajan Ltd. pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the company was sentenced April 19 to a fine of nearly $2.5 million and three years corporate probation.

The seized oil was transported to the United States by Empire Navigation, the company operating the ship carrying the oil.

The DOJ said Empire incurred "significant expenses associated with the vessel's voyage to the United States."

A video screenshot shows the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi during its seizure by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on May 3. Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy
A video screenshot shows the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi during its seizure by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on May 3. Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy

That contraband oil cargo is the subject of a U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia civil forfeiture action, based on U.S. terrorism and money laundering statutes.

That complaint alleges that the IRGC and multiple entities associated with it schemed to covertly transport and sell the sanctioned oil. They tried to disguise the origin of the oil through ship-to-ship transfers, falsified documents, false automatic identification reporting and other means, according to DOJ.

Also alleged is that the U.S. financial system was used to facilitate the oil transport.

IRGC is a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization.