Trump Seizes Ships Carrying Iranian Oil to Venezuela

Photo of Trump and Pence in the Oval Office. Public Domain

The Trump administration seized four private oil tankers sailing Iranian oil to gas-short Venezuela in an effort to stymie the movement of currency and cargo between the two countries that the U.S. has classified as state sponsors of terrorism.  

An Iranian naval ship was escorting a convoy of nine oil vessels, five that are owned by the country itself, and four that belong to private entities. When the U.S. government contacted the four ship’s owners to inform them of sanction violations, the vessels left the convoy, and have been rerouted to Houston.

The Wall Street Journal reported that federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit in July to commandeer the vessels as part of a “campaign of maximum pressure” the Trump administration is placing on Iran, who is largely considered the world leader of “state-sponsored terrorism” and has been directly involved in terrorist plots that have resulted in the deaths of U.S. citizens.    

This is the first time the Trump administration was successful at confiscating cargo from Iran, who is notorious for appropriating foreign oil ships, after last year’s failed attempt to seize an Iranian oil tanker that was being held in Gibraltar.  

The current lawsuit claims that the oil tankers were part of a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions by using shell companies to mask the shipment’s connection to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the United States has classified as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

The seizure, which reportedly was managed without the use of military force, is intended as a deterrent for companies attempting to do business with the authoritarian regimes of Iran and Venezuela.



    1. The shipments of cash stopped when that idiot, Obama, got kicked out of our White House, and we got a President in there who cares about America.

      1. Amen.so glad we got Obummer out of whitehouse now if only we could get him out of D.C would be nice.his ego is soooo large he cant let go.he actually thinks we still want him in the W.house.we just want him to go home and get lost.talk about an ego wow.get lost obummer nobody wants you.we voted you and yer flunkies hillary out so get lost bitch.

    1. So be it, they have been asking for it.Sink the entire Iranian Navy. The new Iranian navy could have glass bottom ships so they could view the Old Iranian Navy.

  1. Well, that’s one for the good guys. Let’s see what happens next. We let the government ships continue it seems, too bad, but a conservative stand since we really don’t want to start another war in that area.

    1. Ginger and Mike: Re-read the second paragraph: All nine tankers were en route to Venezuela. The four privately owned ships were re-routed to Houston after the US Government contacted their owners, and the other five owned by Iran were seized. No mention of what happened to the Iranian Navy vessel that was escorting the convoy, but the story later claims there was no use of military force.

      1. Okay, correction! You’re right, the story only claims the four private tankers were “seized” by being re-routed; apparently the other five proceeded to their destination. Not such a big victory after all.

  2. Thank you President Trump for taking these steps. If it had been Barack Hussein Obama he would have been providing escorts for the Iranian vessels.

  3. Didn’t Trump do a similar thing with North Korea’s vessels? That man is putting in work. I shudder to think if Obama would’ve still been in charge…

  4. I didn’t vote for this POS first time. IT is the lowest piece of slimy sewage ever to come out of a DC sewer and IT needs to go back in. IT should really be take out of this nation in chains and sent to China.

    1. Who the hell are you talking about? Corrupt dumb ass Odumbo? He should have been and still should be hung for treason. Trump never came for DC. Matter of fact, he never was and still isn’t a politician. That’s what pisses off the Left. He’s done more in 3 years than every Democrat together has done in over 50 years. Get over your hatred for Trump realize how well the country was before the democrats concocted this virus.

  5. Sweet, let’s shut down even MORE of irans commerce so the PEOPLE there will finally get rid of the mullahs!

  6. Mr. President, you have to be careful. Iran might send out a cardboard cut-out or plywood model of an Iranian battleship (The ISS Ayatollah). Oh, that’s right Iran has no battleship and their last effort at building a plywood Nimitz sank.

  7. Thankfully we have a President who stands up to terrorist….unlike his predecessor who
    sent them billions of dollars….What a POS Obama really was….

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