Tanker believed to hold sanctioned Iran oil begins to be offloaded near Texas despite Tehran threats

Tracking data suggest that an American-owned oil tanker suspected of transporting sanctioned Iranian crude oil began discharging its cargo near Texas late Saturday, despite Tehran’s warning to strike commerce in the Persian Gulf over it.

The fate of the cargo onboard the Suez Rajan has been entangled in broader tensions between the United States and the Islamic Republic, even as Tehran and Washington move towards a deal involving billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets in South Korea in exchange for the release of five Iranian-Americans detained in Tehran.

Already, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has warned that those involved in offloading the cargo “should expect to be struck back.” The US Navy has increased its presence steadily in recent weeks in the Mideast, deploying the troop-and-aircraft-carrying USS Bataan and considering putting armed personnel on commercial ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz to stop Iran from seizing additional ships.

According to ship-tracking data analysed by The Associated Press, the Marshall Islands-flagged Suez Rajan was transferring oil to another tanker, the Mr Euphrates, in Galveston, Texas, some 70 kilometres (45 miles) southeast of Houston. This will most likely allow the goods to be unloaded.

US officials and the Suez Rajan’s owners, the Los Angeles-based private equity group Oaktree Capital Management, did not reply quickly to calls for comment.

The Suez Rajan story began in February 2022, when the group United Against Nuclear Iran stated it feared the ship was carrying oil from Iran’s largest oil distribution station in the Persian Gulf, Khargh Island.

For months, it sat in the South China Sea off the northeast coast of Singapore before suddenly sailing for the Gulf of Mexico without explanation. Analysts believe the vessel’s cargo likely had been seized by American officials, though there still were no public court documents early Sunday involving the Suez Rajan.

In the meantime, Iran has seized two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, including one with cargo for US oil major Chevron Corp. In July, the top commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s naval arm threatened further action against anyone offloading the Suez Rajan, with state media linking the recent seizures to the cargo’s fate.

“We hereby declare that we would hold any oil company that sought to unload our crude from the vessel responsible and we also hold America responsible,” Rear Adm. Alireza Tangsiri said at the time. “The era of hit and run is over, and if they hit, they should expect to be struck back.”

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the offloading of the Suez Rajan. Western-backed naval organizations in the Persian Gulf in recent days also warned of an increased risk of ship seizures from Iran around the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers saw it regain the ability to sell oil openly on the international market. But in 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord and re-imposed American sanctions. That slammed the door on much of Iran’s lucrative crude oil trade, a major engine for its economy and its government. It also began a cat-and-mouse hunt for Iranian oil cargo — as well as a series of escalating attacks attributed to Iran since 2019.

The delay in offloading the Suez Rajan’s cargo had become a political issue as well for the Biden administration as the ship had sat for months in the Gulf of Mexico, possibly due to companies being worried about the threat from Iran.

In a letter dated Wednesday, a group of Democratic and Republican US senators asked the White House for an update on what was happening with the ship’s cargo, estimated to be worth some $56 million. They said the money could go toward the US Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund, which compensates those affected by the Sept. 11 attacks, the 1979 Iran hostage crisis and other militant assaults.

“We owe it to these American families to enforce our sanctions,” the letter read.

The US Treasury has said Iran’s oil smuggling revenue supports the Quds Force, the expeditionary unit of the Revolutionary Guard that operates across the Mideast.

Claire Jungman, the chief of staff at United Against Nuclear Iran, praised the transfer finally happening.

“By depriving the (Guard) of crucial resources, we strike a blow against terrorism that targets not only American citizens but also our global allies and partners,” Jungman told the AP.