ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Wednesday that they have released on judicial order a Vietnamese-flagged oil tanker that it seized in October, amid escalated tensions between Tehran and Washington before returning to the negotiation table on nuclear talks.
Hossein Salami said that the confiscated MV Southys vessel “was released by a court order after draining the oil of the Islamic Republic in Bandar Abbas,” on IRGC-linked Sepah News, adding that they emptied out the oil that belongs to Iran.
Iran’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard troops took control of the MV Southys on October 24, a vessel suspected of trying to transfer sanctioned Iranian crude oil to Asia. US forces reportedly monitored the seizure, but ultimately did not take action as the vessel sailed into Iranian waters, AP reported last week.
Over a week after its seizure, Iranian state TV reported that the US had attempted to “steal” the oil, but IRGC naval forces seized control of the tanker and brought it back to Iranian waters.
Iran's oil sector is under US sanctions imposed after former president Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018. Talks began earlier this year to revive the accord after President Joe Biden said he wanted to rejoin in order to rein in Iran's expanding nuclear program.
The negotiations have been stalled since June when they were suspended to allow for a new government to come into power in Iran. Tehran is now under pressure to resume the talks and has indicated that it could do so by the end of the month, on November 29.
Late last month, however, Tehran said the US was “not trustworthy” after Washington announced new sanctions on its drone program. The US had said that Iran and its proxies have used drones to attack US interests and international shipping.
Hossein Salami said that the confiscated MV Southys vessel “was released by a court order after draining the oil of the Islamic Republic in Bandar Abbas,” on IRGC-linked Sepah News, adding that they emptied out the oil that belongs to Iran.
Iran’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard troops took control of the MV Southys on October 24, a vessel suspected of trying to transfer sanctioned Iranian crude oil to Asia. US forces reportedly monitored the seizure, but ultimately did not take action as the vessel sailed into Iranian waters, AP reported last week.
Salami commented that America’s “claim” that they were only spectators is a “big lie,” and that “the distance of American ships with our ships and forces was less than 30 meters. If they were to monitor, they could do so from a distance or even by using planes and drones.”BREAKING: Iran's IRGC appears to have now released the SOTHYS. She is currently empty and underway in a southward direction. Though her reported destination is Dubai, her current trajectory is the Gulf of Oman. Iran's RIMA is holding the $50M of oil which SOTHYS received in June. pic.twitter.com/BmQ6rgGeIE
— TankerTrackers.com, Inc. (@TankerTrackers) November 9, 2021
Over a week after its seizure, Iranian state TV reported that the US had attempted to “steal” the oil, but IRGC naval forces seized control of the tanker and brought it back to Iranian waters.
Iran's oil sector is under US sanctions imposed after former president Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018. Talks began earlier this year to revive the accord after President Joe Biden said he wanted to rejoin in order to rein in Iran's expanding nuclear program.
The negotiations have been stalled since June when they were suspended to allow for a new government to come into power in Iran. Tehran is now under pressure to resume the talks and has indicated that it could do so by the end of the month, on November 29.
Late last month, however, Tehran said the US was “not trustworthy” after Washington announced new sanctions on its drone program. The US had said that Iran and its proxies have used drones to attack US interests and international shipping.
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