US may start unloading oil from seized Iranian vessel, FT says

The US may soon start unloading oil from an Iranian tanker now anchored off the coast of Texas that was seized by the Department of Justice in April, the Financial Times reported, without saying where it got the information.

The vessel, named Suez Rajan, arrived offshore of Galveston on May 29, the newspaper said, citing satellite images and transponder location data. The US seized the tanker in April while it was en route to China, prompting Iran to take a US vessel called the Advantage Sweet, which was carrying Kuwaiti oil for Chevron, according to the FT.

Iran’s oil exports have been a target of sanctions imposed on the country over its nuclear program, with the US and its allies trying to prevent Iran from using its energy technology to develop nuclear weapons.

The Suez Rajan’s arrival off the coast likely signals that the US government has reached an agreement with the operators and owners of the tanker on criminal penalties, the FT cited an unidentified ex-official in President Joe Biden’s administration as saying. The ship is carrying an estimated 800,000 barrels of crude worth $56 million, the paper said. 

The US Department of Justice declined to comment, as did the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the newspaper said.