US seized Iran oil cargo as Biden considers easing sanctions

By JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — The U.S. has quietly seized the cargo of two tankers suspected of transporting Iranian oil as part of an elaborate sanctions-busting scheme involving forged documents and the repainting of a ship’s deck to cloak shipments considered illegal under U.S. sanctions. Details of the seizure of the valuable cargo aboard the two Greek-managed ships were contained in a federal civil case unsealed last month after the vessels discharged the oil in Houston and the Bahamas at the direction of U.S. law enforcement. The seizure comes as the Biden administration seeks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that could see the U.S. lift punishing sanctions.