US seized cargo of ships allegedly carrying Iranian crude — court docs show

The United States has seized the cargo of two oil tankers accused of carrying 700,000 barrels of Iranian crude in violation of US sanctions, court documents show.

Several weeks ago US authorities seized the oil which they said left Iran in 2020 and was then transferred to other vessels “using surreptitious means to hide the defendant property’s Iranian origin.”

The court case was made public only recently, after the oil was resold for between $38 million and $45 million.

The court documents say that an Iranian tanker targeted by US sanctions, called the Stark I, was repainted in October 2020 to escape detection by satellites, took on oil at an Iranian port and set sail.

While at sea the tanker transferred 733,876 barrels of crude to a Panamanian-flagged ship called the M/T Arina. During this risky operation the vessels turned off equipment that broadcasts their location.