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The Financial Times reported that US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook dangled millions of dollars in front of the captain of the recently released Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya (formerly known as Grace 1). Akhilesh Kumar. hoping to entice him into sailing to a country that would impound the vessel and warning that if the Indian capitan did not comply. he would suffer dire consequences.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif lashed out at the US for attempts to blackmail the captain of Adrian Darya. after failure in piracy against the vessel.
Having failed at piracy. the US resorts to outright blackmail – deliver us Iran’s oil and receive several million dollars or be sanctioned yourself. Zarif wrote on his Twitter page.
A US State Department spokesperson confirmed the report claiming that Washington has been offering the captains of Iranian transport vessels to surrender their ships in exchange for hard cash.
The spokeswoman gladly confirmed that the Adrian Darya captain isn’t the only seafarer to receive the carrot-and-stick treatment. either – the US special representative for Iran has emailed roughly a dozen captains in recent months in an effort to scare mariners into understanding that helping Tehran evade sanctions comes at a heavy price.
The attempts at seizing the ship or bribing its captain are part of the wider maximum pressure campaign launched by the United States to stop Iran from profiting from its oil trade after Washington imposed sanctions on it last year.
Washington has also asked several countries. including Germany. France and the UK. to join its military mission in the Persian Gulf to counter Tehran. but. the request to build the coalition has been met with either silence or rejection. according to reports. Only Israel. the UK. Bahrain and Australia have welcomed the call. which has been rejected by the US` other allies.
In early July. British marines and Gibraltar police seized the Iranian tanker off the Southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. claiming that the ship was transporting crude oil to Syria “in violation“ of the EU sanctions placed on Damascus. Washington had applauded the move. hailing it as a sign that Europe is on board with the US unilateral sanctions against Tehran.
In mid-August. Gibraltar`s Supreme Court ruled in favour of releasing the vessel. while hours before the announcement. the United States had launched a last-minute legal move demanding that the British overseas territory detain the ship. In late August. The US Treasury Department blacklisted the Iranian oil tanker and sanctioned its captain after an attempt to confiscate the ship failed.
Iran had condemned the illegal move of London and described it as tantamount to piracy. Tehran accused the UK of doing Washington’s bidding and helping the US attempt to stifle the Islamic Republic’s oil exports. rejecting London`s claim that the supertanker was carrying crude for Syria.
Tensions mounted between Tehran and Washington last May. when President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). and re-imposed harsh sanctions against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticism. Trump and his hawkish advisers National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have since been stepping up pressure against Iranians.
