US sells over a million barrels of seized Iranian fuel headed for Venezuela

US sells over a million barrels of seized Iranian fuel headed for Venezuela
The United States has sold more than a million barrels of Iranian fuel seized under its sanctions program last year, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing the US Department of Justice.

The seizures were part of Washington’s economic sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program, and the US’ designation of a number of Iranian groups as terrorists. The US government under President Donald Trump used civil forfeiture procedures to seize some 1.2 million barrels of gasoline it said were being sent from Iran to Venezuela aboard four tankers.

According to Department of Justice spokesman Marc Raimondi, the sale of the cargoes had been completed, with the government “still working out the final expenses.” He told Reuters, “The petroleum has been seized, and an interlocutory sale has preserved the cash value of the petroleum, which is now held by the US Marshals Service.”