U.S. Seized Iranian Oil Over Smuggling Incident That Escalated Tensions in Gulf

…United Against Nuclear Iran, a nonprofit organization that includes many former U.S. and foreign government security officials, first brought attention to the likelihood that the Suez Rajan was carrying illicit oil in February 2022, citing satellite imagery. The organization’s chief executive, Mark Wallace, a former ambassador in the George W. Bush administration, said that a Greek company that managed the vessel ultimately brought another of its ships to Texas to complete the offloading. He praised the company, Empire Navigation, for braving what he portrayed as transnational intimidation by Iran and eventually “doing the right thing.” But he said that the length of time it had taken to resolve the matter underscored a larger problem, and that his group had identified some 300 other such tankers likely engaged in Iranian oil smuggling, based on similar data.