Last year, the White House pledged to sanction any actor involved in purchase or transaction of Iranian oil, citing Tehran's alleged support for militant groups in the region and its ballistic missile programme. Despite the threats, a number of countries still continued their oil business with Iran.
Washington has forced Greece-based shipowners to surrender their cargo of Iranian fuel to the US government or face sanctions from the Trump administration, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the confiscation.
The ships in question, reportedly owned by Greek Vienna LTD and Palermo SA, were said to be loaded with Iranian oil, despite the sanctions imposed on Tehran. According to the report, their owners “grew frightened” due to the threat of US sanctions that could target the shippers and their crews, potentially depriving them from access to US banks and dollar depositions.
After a US federal prosecutor filed a suit to seize the tankers, the shippers agreed to transfer the oil cargo to Greece's Eurotankers and Denmark's Maersk vessels. They were subsequently expected to arrive in Houston, and according to US President Donald Trump's comments to the press, might have already come to the US port. If the oil cargo will be recovered from the court, the money from its sale will go to the US Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Fund, the Department of Justice said in a press release. According to sources familiar with the transaction, the…
