US warns ship owners about storing Iranian oil
The Donald Trump administration will soon warn shipowners, port authorities and insurance companies about storing Iranian oil, urging them to avoid violating US sanctions against Tehran.
According to Reuters, David Payman, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Countering Financial Threats and Sanctions, announced the news on Monday, March 9.
Mr. Peyman said at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies meeting: "We will target and list anyone who stores Iranian oil, petrochemical products, and processed fuel in a way that violates US sanctions, regardless of who they are."
He also said the United States is requiring ship captains to take photographs of anyone involved in transferring sanctioned oil from one ship to another and provide them to the US government.
The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State also said that cargo ships that turn off their tracking devices in an attempt to evade US sanctions will also be warned.
On May 8 of last year, Donald Trump's administration withdrew from the nuclear agreement between six world powers and Iran and imposed severe sanctions on Tehran.
These sanctions have severely affected Iran's oil exports, reducing the country's oil sales from two and a half million barrels per day before the sanctions to about 300,000 barrels per day.
Various reports indicate that Iran is storing its oil on ships and in some warehouses in China to sell it at the appropriate time.
Using tankers that turn off their tracking systems to avoid being observed is another way Iran has been trying to get its oil to some of its remaining customers.
China currently imports oil from Iran despite US sanctions against Tehran, and for this reason, the Donald Trump administration sanctioned some units of the Chinese shipping company COSCO last September for illegally importing oil.
Source: Radio Farda
