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US Senators Demand Iran Oil and Gas Seizures

April 28, 2023
2 min read
In a letter to Biden, Senators Joni Ernst and Richard Blumenthal urged the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office to seize Iranian oil shipments
In a letter to Biden, Senators Joni Ernst and Richard Blumenthal urged the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office to seize Iranian oil shipments

American senators from both the Democratic and Republican parties have called on U.S. President Joe Biden to enable a federal government agency to seize Iranian oil and gas shipments.

The call comes as Iran's oil exports continue to rise despite U.S. sanctions over its nuclear program.

In a letter to Biden, Senators Joni Ernst and Richard Blumenthal urged the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office to seize Iranian oil shipments, Reuters reported on April 27. 

The letter is signed by 12 senators from both parties. 

They cited policy limitations within the Department of Treasury's Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture that have prevented HSI from carrying out these seizures for over a year.Iran has claimed that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes, while the U.S. suspects that the program is being used to develop a nuclear bomb through uranium enrichment. 

Last month, Iranian oil minister Javad Owji announced that Iran's oil exports had reached their highest level since the reimposition of U.S. sanctions in 2018.The senators pointed out that since the activation of HSI's enforcement program in 2019, it has seized nearly $228 million in Iranian crude and fuel oil linked to the Quds Force, the foreign expeditionary arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The senators' letter was sent on the same day the U.S. Navy reported that Iran had seized a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker in the Gulf of Oman. 

The Navy said the vessel Advantage Sweet issued a distress call while in international waters as the Revolutionary Guard seized the vessel.

Satellite tracking data for the vessel from MarineTraffic.com showed the tanker north of Oman’s capital, Muscat, on the afternoon of April 27. It came from Kuwait and listed its destination as Houston, Texas.

According to the International Maritime Organisation shipping database, the Advantage Sweet is owned by a China-registered company.

The senators have called on the Biden Administration to direct the Treasury Department to ensure that HSI Iranian oil seizures are supported and funded for the remainder of this fiscal year, and to explain why no other funding is available for seizures based on credible leads related to enforcing Iranian sanctions.

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