[News] US threatens to sanction anyone fueling Iran tanker

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/09/06/605466/Iran-tanker-sanctions-treasury-OFAC-refuel 



  US threatens to sanction anyone fueling Iran tanker

Fri Sep 6, 2019
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*The US Treasury Department has threatened to blacklist anyone around 
the world who helps fuel an Iranian vessel already sanctioned by the US 
administration.*

In an update to its frequently asked questions on Iran sanctions on its 
website, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, said 
“the bunkering by non-US persons of an Iranian vessel that has been 
identified as blocked property of an Iranian person … and the making of 
related payments for these bunkering services — risk being designated 
themselves.”

Last month, the United States blacklisted the Iranian-operated 
supertanker Adrian Darya 1 (formerly Grace-1) and sanctioned its captain.

At the time, the Treasury Under Secretary Sigal Mandelker warned that 
“anyone providing support to the Adrian Darya 1 risks being sanctioned."

The US earlier threatened 
<https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/08/20/603986/United-States-threat-Iran-supertanker-released-Gibraltar-United-Kingdom> those 
potentially assisting the return of the tanker that had been released by 
Gibraltar after more than a month of detention there by Britain.

Four days before the US imposed sanctions on the tanker, the vessel's 
Indian captain was approached by the US State Department, and was asked 
to either receive bribe for the vessel or face US sanctions.

A report by /The Financial Times/ revealed 
<https://www.ft.com/content/20188064-cefb-11e9-99a4-b5ded7a7fe3f> Wednesday 
that the captain received an unusual email from Brian Hook, the US 
special representative for Iran at the Department of State, in this regard.

According to several emails seen by the Financial Times, Hook wrote to 
Akhilesh Kumar on August 26 that the Trump administration was offering 
him several million dollars to pilot the ship to a country that would 
impound the vessel on behalf of the US. To make sure the captain did not 
mistake the email for a scam, it included an official state department 
phone number.

    Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday described
    the bribery as "shameful" and an indication of the US' "ethical,
    political, and operation breakdown".

Earlier this week, Zarif also said the US was setting a pattern in its 
policy of baits and threats as he himself was invited 
<https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/08/04/602625/Iran-Zarif-Trump-invite-White-House-meeting-Rand-Paul> 
to meet with the president at the White House just weeks before the 
Trump administration placed sanctions on him.

Hook has emailed or texted roughly a dozen captains in recent months in 
an effort to scare mariners into understanding that helping Iran evade 
sanctions comes at a heavy price, the FT report added.

On the same day when the report was released, the United States imposed 
sanctions on an Iranian shipping network – several tankers, companies 
and insurance firms -- accusing it of supplying millions of barrels of 
oil to Syria.

The US Treasury Department announced the illegal sanctions 
<https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/09/04/605342/US-imposes-sanctions-on-Irans-shipping-network> 
on Wednesday on 16 entities, 10 people, including a former Iranian oil 
minister, and 11 vessels, as Washington continued its campaign of 
“maximum pressure” against Tehran and, seeking rise in tensions in the 
Middle East region.

    According to an OFAC Advisory
    <https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/iran_advisory_09032019.pdf>
    released by the US Treasury, the blacklisted vessels include Adrian
    Darya 1 (formerly Grace 1), Destiny, Happiness 1, Sinopa, Devrez,
    Delice, Bonita Queen (formerly Kamila), Jasmine (formerly Emma),
    Sarak (formerly Rise Destiny), Sobar (formerly Rise Dignity), Solan
    (formerly Rise Glory), and Tour 2.

Two Iranian vessels, Bavand and Termeh, had been stranded for weeks at 
the Brazilian port of Paranagua after the country’s state oil company of 
Petrobras refused to provide fuel to them for fear of breaching US 
sanctions on Iran.

*Read more:*

  * Stranded Iranian vessel heading back home from Brazil, 2nd ship to
    follow
    <https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/07/30/602214/Iranian-ship-Bavand-Brazil-Termeh>

On July 25, however, Brazil’s highest judicial authority ordered 
Petrobras to refuel the ships, overturning an injunction that had 
authorized the oil firm to withhold the service.

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