Topline
The U.S. government will seize the oil on board the tanker captured off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing on Thursday, calling the boat a “sanctioned shadow vessel” that shipped oil to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
An image of the oil tanker being seized by U.S. forces on Wednesday.
Associated Press
Key Facts
Leavitt said the Department of Justice received a warrant to seize the tanker, which she said was “carrying black market sanctioned oil to the IRGC, which you know is a sanctioned entity.”
The vessel is traveling to a U.S. port, where the U.S. will seize the oil on board, although Leavitt noted “there is a legal process for the seizure of that oil, and that legal process will be followed.”
An investigative team is on the vessel and interviewing the people on board.
Leavitt said Trump was “committed to effectuating this administration’s sanction policy, and that’s what you saw and the world saw.”
What To Watch For
The U.S. could seize more oil vessels, six sources told Reuters on Thursday, and has assembled a list of vessels transporting oil to sanctioned countries. Leavitt would not confirm if the administration planned to seize any more tankers or target Venezuela’s oil industry in any further capacity, but said the Trump administration was “executing on the president’s sanction policies,” and also said, “we’re not going to stand by and see sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narcoterrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world.”
