The US state department has admitted that it offered millions of dollars to the captain of an Iranian oil tanker which is at the center of a diplomatic row.
The head of the department’s Iran Action Group, Brian Hook has emailed the captain of the Adrian Darya 1 about sailing it so the US could seize it.
The vessel was suspected of moving oil to Syria and was seized by the UK in July; afterwards it was released last month after Iran assured them about its destination.
The US justice department, which had tried to block the release, then issued a warrant to seize the tanker.
“We have conducted extensive outreach to several ship captains as well as shipping companies,” a spokeswoman told AFP news agency.
It was announced by the treasury department that the vessel was being used to transport 2.1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil for the benefit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard – a branch of the country’s armed forces the US has designated a terrorist organisation.
Stated by the Financial Times, Mr Hook sent an email to the Indian captain of the Adrian Darya 1, Akhilesh Kumar.
“I am writing with good news,” the email read. The Trump administration was willing to pay the captain several million dollars to take the ship somewhere it could be seized by US authorities.
The emails contained a state department phone number to make sure the captain – who took over the ship after it was impounded – did not think they were fake.
Mr. Hook said he is “working very closely with the maritime community to disrupt and deter illicit oil exports.”
Mr. Kumar ignored the emails. The US then imposed sanctions on him personally when they blacklisted Adrian Darya 1.
The Trump administration announced new sanctions on an Iranian shipping network used to sell oil, and offered $15m to anyone who could help to disrupt the system.
The Adrian Darya 1, before named Grace 1, was detained by British authorities in Gibraltar on 4 July after it was accused of moving oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions.
On the 15th of August, the same vessel was released after Iran promised it would not discharge its cargo in Syria – despite the last-minute US effort to prevent its release.
Its first capture triggered a diplomatic crisis between the UK and Iran, which saw Iran seize a British-flagged and Swedish-owned oil tanker, the Stena Impero, in the Gulf.
On Wednesday, seven members of the crew were released and the rest of the 16 crew members are believed to be with the vessel near Iran’s southern port of Bandar Abbas.
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