Greek company that transports Iranian oil will pay a fine of 2.4 million dollars to the US.

According to court documents from Washington DC, the parties reached a settlement in the lawsuit filed against the Greek “Empire Navigation” for the fact that it was transporting Iranian oil.

In the agreement, the company agreed to transport Iranian oil on the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker “Suez Rajan”, which is carrying approximately 1 million barrels of Iranian oil seized due to unilateral US sanctions.

The company agreed to pay a fine of approximately $2.4 million as a result of the agreement reached in its defense.

With the decision in question, the judges have publicly acknowledged for the first time that the United States has seized approximately 1 million barrels of oil transported in Suez Rajan.

The case file was claimed to have been kept secret for about five months due to the “threat of retaliation” from Iran.

OIL TANKER CRISIS BETWEEN IRAN AND THE US

Because of the unilateral sanctions it imposes, the United States occasionally seizes Iranian tankers carrying crude oil and attempts to sell the oil from these vessels at auction. Iran, in turn, intervenes in oil tankers that sail through the Persian Gulf, alleging that they do not “comply with maritime regulations.”

The oil tanker “Suez Rajan” was captured by the US Navy in southern African waters in late April and towed to the Texas coast.

Iran also seized the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker called “Advantage Sweet” operated by US energy company Chevron on April 27 and the Panama-flagged tanker called “Niovi” on May 3.

The Wall Street Journal had written that US oil companies were unwilling to offload oil from the “Suez Rajan” tanker, which was seized in April and taken to Texas because they were concerned about Iranian retaliation. Iranian officials announced that they would hold the companies that will help unload the oil from the tanker responsible for the incident. (AA)