Judge James Boasberg of the US district court for the District of Columbia issued a warrant for seizing the cargoes based on a forfeiture complaint filed yesterday by the US Justice Department — the latest step meant to demonstrate US resolve to disrupt transportation of Iranian fuel to Venezuela, after five such deliveries took place in late May and early June.
None of the four tankers — the Bella, the Bering, the Luna and the Pandi — are currently within the reach of US authorities. Washington claims jurisdiction by stating that the ultimate beneficiary of such sales is Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a paramilitary group the US labels a "terrorist organization." All four tankers are Liberia-flagged, and owned by Greek companies, shipping records show. US attorneys have not disclosed any charges against the tanker owners.
US officials said last month that they deterred the Bella and three other unnamed tankers from delivering gasoline cargoes to Venezuela. But shipping data show that the Bella is now off the southern tip of South America, following a two month journey from Iran through the Indian and Pacific oceans.
The tanker is carrying 302,502 bl of gasoline, according to the US complaint. The Luna and the Pandi are in the Gulf of Oman, and the Bering is off the western coast of India. The three tankers are said to be carrying a combined 860,706 bl of gasoline.
Iran's ability to deliver 1.5mn bl of gasoline and alkylate to Venezuela in May and June, aboard five Iranian-owned tankers, caught the US by surprise. Washington cast the shipments, which challenge the US portrayal of the success of its sanctions programs against the two Opec producers, as another example of bad economic policy advanced by Tehran. But Iranian oil minister Bijam Namdar Zanganeh said last week the shipments were commercial and that Tehran was prepared to supply more gasoline to Venezuela.
For Venezuela, the supply was meant to alleviate a severe fuel shortage that has been sharply aggravated by US oil sanctions imposed in January 2019. And the gasoline shipments came at a fortuitous time for Iranian state-owned NIOC, as it struggled to sell or store oil domestically because of Covid-19 containment measures. Venezuela likely used gold from its central bank reserves to pay for the fuel supply, bypassing the US financial system.
The forfeiture complaint filed by the US attorneys, which they said was based on a confidential tip to the FBI, backs the view that NIOC used at least one of the tankers, the Pandi, as floating storage before the fuel aboard its cargo was transferred to the Bella in April and destined to Venezuela.
The complaint also reveals, as did similar court filings in US courts over the past year, that NIOC was able to use affiliated companies in Switzerland, the UAE and other countries to bypass US sanctions aimed at preventing Iran from being able to charter tankers and doing business with the international maritime community.
The US Justice Department last year filed a forfeiture complaint against a crude oil cargo aboard Iranian tanker Adrian Darya 1, which was detained in Gibraltar. The US action failed to prevent Gibraltar authorities from releasing the tanker, which ultimately delivered its cargo to Syria. Syria is also subject to US sanctions.
The US since then has stepped up the threat of sanctions against foreign port authorities, charterers and insurance providers dealing with Iranian tankers. Washington has been more successful in persuading charterers and tanker owners to cut off ties with Venezuela's state-owned PdV.
