A United Nations agency has acknowledged that a US-wanted oil tanker “hijacked” off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after allegedly smuggling Iranian crude oil is back in Iranian waters.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) said Sunday that the MT Gulf Sky was hijacked on July 5, citing its captain. That reflects previous reports from The Associated Press news agency.
“The ship was brought to Iran,” said the ILO. The 28 Indian crew members landed in Iran and all but two of the passport-less crew flew from Tehran to India on July 15, he added.
The ILO quoted the International Seafarers Welfare and Welfare Network for its information. The agency previously released a report saying the ship and its sailors had been abandoned by their owners without pay since March off Khorfakkan, a city on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates.
Iranian state media and officials have not acknowledged the hijacking and arrival of the MT Gulf Sky in Iran. The United States government similarly has not commented.
In May, the US Department of Justice filed criminal charges against two Iranians, accusing them of trying to launder some $ 12 million to buy the tanker, later named MT Nautica, through a series of front companies.
Mysterious cistern
Court documents allege that the smuggling scheme involved the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, which is its elite expeditionary unit, as well as Iran’s national oil and oil companies.
The two accused men, one of whom also has an Iraqi passport, remain at large.
A US bank froze the funds associated with the sale, prompting the seller to start a lawsuit in the UAE to recover the boat, the Justice Department previously said. That civil action was believed to be still pending, raising questions about how the ship left the Emirates after it was captured by authorities there.
As tensions between Iran and the United States heated up last year, tankers sailing the waters of the Middle East became targets, particularly near the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Gulf through which the 20th passes. percent of all oil.
Suspected mining attacks that the United States blamed on Iran attacked several oil tankers. Iran denied any involvement.
Iran seized a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf last year after British forces seized an Iranian oil tanker outside of Gibraltar. Both ships were released after a months-long clash.
A flotilla of tankers carrying Iranian fuel for Venezuela, starved of gasoline, arrived in the US nation affected by the sanctions in June.
The shipments caused a diplomatic showdown between Iran and Venezuela and the US since both nations are under US sanctions.
The United States recently reinforced its naval presence in the Caribbean by what it said was an expanded anti-drug operation.
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