The United States has confiscated Iranian oil held on a Russian-operated ship near Greece and will send the cargo to the United States aboard another vessel, three sources familiar with the matter said.
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It was unclear whether the cargo was impounded because it was Iranian oil or due to the sanctions on the tanker over its Russian nexus. Iran and Russia are facing separate US sanctions.
The Iranian-flagged ship, the Pegas, was among five vessels designated by Washington on Feb. 22 – two days before Russia's invasion of Ukraine – for sanctions against Promsvyazbank, a bank viewed as critical to Russia's defense sector.
The vessel's Russian owner Transmorflot was subsequently designated on May 8. The tanker, renamed Lana on March 1 and flying the Iranian flag since May 1, has remained near Greek waters since then. It was previously Russian-flagged.
A source at Greece's shipping ministry said on Thursday that the US Department of Justice had "informed Greece that the cargo on the vessel is Iranian oil." "The cargo has been transferred to another ship that was hired by the US," the source added, without providing further details.
The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on what it described as a Russian-backed oil smuggling and money laundering network for Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, even as Washington tries to revive a nuclear deal with Iran. A spokesman for the US Department of Justice declined to comment on the oil seizure. Russian officials did not respond to requests for comment.
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