U.S. seizes Iranian fuel bound for Venezuela, moves cargo to Texas port
President Donald Trump chastised Iran on Friday for its continued attempts to ship fuel to Venezuela, confirming that the cargo of four Iranian tankers had been successfully seized and moved to a Houston port.
“They shouldn’t be doing that,” Trump told reporters at a White House press briefing. “There are four tankers. They’re going to Houston. And they’re there. And they’re not supposed to be doing that — Iran’s not supposed to be doing that. And so we did, we seized the tankers, and we’re moving them, and moved to Houston.”
The Justice Department announced earlier in the day the successful seizure of the fuel shipment of the four tankers, which were carrying over one million barrels of Iranian fuel intended for the government of disputed Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro.
The ships were initially seized on July 2, but the administration had to wait for a federal court order authorizing the seizure in order to take over the cargo. The United States has now executed the court order, confiscating the cargo from all four vessels.
“With the assistance of foreign partners, this seized property is now in U.S. custody,” the Justice Department said in a statement. The seizure was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
“We are seeing more and more global shipping fleets avoiding the Iran-Venezuela trade due to our sanctions implementation and enforcement efforts,” a State Department spokesperson said. “The United States remains committed to our maximum pressure campaigns against the Iranian and Maduro regimes.”
