According to newly released court documents and a statement issued by the Department of Justice on Friday, the US government seized about 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil en way to China.
According to the Department of Justice, this is the first criminal settlement involving a business that violated sanctions by assisting in the illicit sale and transportation of Iranian oil.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a foreign terrorist organisation designated by the US, allegedly carried over 980,000 barrels of oil.
According to documents submitted in court by the DOJ, “multiple entities affiliated with Iran’s IRGC and the IRGC-Qods Force” were involved in an endeavor to “disguise the origin of the oil” before its illegal shipment to China.
According to legal filings, “profits from oil sales fund the IRGC’s full range of malign activities, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for terrorism, and both domestic and international human rights abuses.”
Empire Navigation, which operated the oil tanker, pleaded guilty to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in April. IRCG was sentenced to three years of corporate probation and a $2.5 million fine. The ship of Suez Rajan Limited “incurred significant expenses associated with the vessel’s voyage to the United States,” according to the DOJ.