TEHRAN —
Iran said on Saturday that US attempts to seize its tankers and oil cargo had failed
to stop exports that are subject to sanctions imposed by the US.
اضافة اعلان
The comments by
Iran's oil minister, Jawad Owji, came after US court documents showed the US had seized the cargo of two
tankers accused of carrying Iranian crude.
"Attempts by the enemy to reduce Iran's
oil exports and capture the country's ships have taken place many times"
in past months, Owji said.
"When the enemy saw that it was
helpless and could not stop our exports and contracts, it went for our
ships," he said, quoted by the government's Iran newspaper.
Court documents that have been made public
showed
US authorities seized several weeks ago 700,000 barrels of oil which
they said had left Iran in 2020 before being transferred to other vessels to
avoid detection.
The US had previously issued a number of
warrants to seize the cargo of tankers carrying Iranian oil to different
countries.
It confirmed in August 2020 the seizure of
fuel aboard four tankers sent by Iran to Venezuela.
"Now you have heard one or two cases,
but several other similar cases have occurred, which fortunately were thwarted
by the good strength of the armed forces," Owji said.
The minister did not elaborate but cited an
announcement by
Iran's Revolutionary Guards that they had stopped an attempt by
the US navy to seize a tanker carrying Iranian oil in the Sea of Oman in
October.
US defense officials rejected that account
and said Iranians themselves had seized a tanker before taking it to Iranian
waters.
The latest announcement comes against the
backdrop of a pause in negotiations to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement
between Iran and world powers.
The deal gave Iran sanctions relief in
exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. But the US unilaterally withdrew
from the accord in 2018 under then-president
Donald Trump and imposed tough
economic sanctions on different sectors, including oil exports.
Owji said however that "oil exports
have increased under the toughest sanctions."
"Both the
Americans and the countries
that have subjected us to oppressive sanctions have now come to the conclusion
that these sanctions will eventually become ineffective and that their
intention to reduce exports to zero will not be possible," he added.
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