The US government has sold more than 1m barrels of gasoline that were confiscated over the summer for their alleged Iranian links, even as the cargo owners are still seeking to legally recover the fuel.
On its website, the US Department of Justice said the fuel had already been sold for charity and delivered, without providing details on the buyer and price.
“Iran continues to be a leading state sponsor of terrorism and a worldwide destabilising force,” assistant attorney general for national security John Demers said earlier this week.
“Our intentions are to take the funds successfully forfeited from the fuel sales and provide them to the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund after the conclusion of the case.”
The 1.1m barrels of gasoline were aboard four ships — the 37,400-dwt Bella and 37,300-dwt Luna (both built 2000), 47,400-dwt Bering (built 1998) and 46,200-dwt Pandi (built 1996) — when the cargo seizure was approved by a US district court in August.
According to media reports, Washington then convinced the ships' owners to offload the gasoline via ship-to-ship transfers to two vessels that carried the fuel to Houston.
“We recognise and appreciate the hard work and dedication of the agents and prosecutors who secured forfeiture of the petroleum and prevented its proceeds from funding Iran’s campaign of violence and unrest throughout the Middle East,” Michael Paul, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s special agent in charge of Minneapolis operations, said.
The Minneapolis Field Office was working with Homeland Security Investigations and US Navy during the seizure.
Government officials have alleged that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Washington considers a terrorist organisation, was looking to transport the gasoline to Venezuela — another country under US sanctions.
The military group was said to have arranged the shipments via Mobin International, Oman Fuel and Sohar Fuel. Washington seized their websites in August and put Mobin International and Oman Fuel on the sanctions list this Monday.
In early September, the three firms filed claims in US courts that they are legitimate companies that had a deal to ship the gasoline to Trinidad and Tobago for sale to customers in Peru and Colombia. They sought the dismissal of the seizure order and the return of the gasoline.
The government filed papers in that dispute, signalling their intent to file a motion to dismiss.
The US sent the companies a list of questions and their answers were under review, according to the court papers.
The government will inform on whether to file their motion to dismiss by 4 November.
