US moves to seize more than 500,000 barrels of Iranian oil it says was illegally trafficked

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Justice Department announced Friday that it was seizing more than 500,000 barrels of internationally sanctioned Iranian fuel that officials said was illegally trafficked to provide funding for the country's paramilitary force. Officials described the actions, which come at time of simmering tensions between the U.S. and Iran, as part of a broader effort to disrupt funding to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, an expeditionary unit believed to be working abroad in countries like Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen to back Iranian-allied militias. And the FBI will remain committed to enforcing U.S. sanctions that keep money out of its coffers.” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that "the Justice Department will continue to use every authority we have to cut off the illegal financing and enabling of Iran’s malicious activities, which have become even more evident in recent months.” One criminal case, filed in New York, charges seven people — including multiple officers of a Turkish energy group and a leader within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — with using front companies, false documentation and manipulated location and shipping data to sell to government-affiliated buyers in China, Russia and Syria. The Associated Press in March 2023 analyzed satellite photos and maritime tracking data to place the Abyss in a key Asian maritime strait next to the crude oil tanker Oceania for a possible ship-to-ship transfer.