US President Donald Trump announced earlier this week that the US was beginning a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela. This apparently will cut off a number of tankers from the South American country.
This could also affect Iran or other countries that trade with Venezuela or that operate sanctioned oil tanker vessels. This is important because back in 2020, the US targeted four oil tankers which were part of a “multi-million dollar fuel shipment by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” the US Justice Department said at the time.
Four Iranian tankers had already turned around after heading to Venezuela after the US seized a vessel called Skipper. It was seized “for its alleged involvement in transporting sanctioned oil,” Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Iran signed a 20-year cooperation agreement with Venezuela in 2022.
CNN noted that Trump posted his declaration on Truth Social and that “Trump pointed to the large collection of US military assets in the region, suggested more could be coming, and took aim at [Nicolás] Maduro’s regime by name. He also suggested Venezuela give up land, oil, and assets to the United States, making clear that one aim of his military campaign is not just about countering the drug trade.”
Trump noted, “Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before – Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”
CNN added, “Combined with Trump’s threat of land strikes on Venezuelan soil, the move ratcheted up pressure on Caracas by going after its economic lifeline, which had already come under strain after new sanctions on the oil sector earlier this year and last week’s seizure of a tanker full of Venezuelan oil.”
This is expected to ramp up pressure on Maduro, the AP added. Reuters reported that “it is unclear how Trump will impose the move against the sanctioned vessels, and whether he will turn to the Coast Guard to interdict vessels like he did last week. The administration has moved thousands of troops and nearly a dozen warships – including an aircraft carrier – to the region.”
The new pressure on Venezuela comes years after the US also went after tankers linked to the IRGC. Back in 2020, the US “Justice Department announced the successful disruption of a multimillion-dollar fuel shipment by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated foreign terrorist organization, that was bound for Venezuela. These actions represent the government’s largest-ever seizure of fuel shipments from Iran,” the department said.
At the time, the US sought to go after the petroleum-product cargo that was on four tankers: the M/T Bering, M/T Bella, M/T Luna, and M/T Pandi. The Department noted at the time that “a seizure order for the cargo from all four vessels was issued by US District Court Judge Jeb Boasberg of the US District Court for the District of Columbia.”
The 2020 incidents came amid heightened tensions in the Gulf as Iran also targeted oil tankers using mines. This took place in the context of a 2019 incident in which the US had sought to seize the Grace 1, a tanker that was sailing to the Mediterranean. Therefore, it’s plausible that what happens in Venezuela could once again lead to ramifications in the Middle East.
At the moment, it is not clear how Iran might respond. Iran is a close ally of the Maduro regime. Maduro also has close ties to Russia and may have increased ties to China. In addition, Ankara has also often had warm ties with Caracas.
What do we know about the tanker Skipper?
The BBC noted that “the US confirmed that its forces seized a vessel during a helicopter-launched raid near the coast of Venezuela. BBC Verify confirmed the ship was the Skipper by matching a sign seen in footage released by the US to a reference photo supplied by TankerTrackers.com, a site which monitors oil shipments.”
The BBC noted that Skipper sails under the flag of Guyana. In international shipping, it is common that vessels sail under a flag that has little connection to who manages or owns the vessel. The BBC noted that the Guyana government issued a statement claiming the ship is “falsely flying the Guyana flag as it is not registered in Guyana.”
The report characterized the ship as part of a global “dark fleet” of ships that avoid sanctions. This vessel had left Iraq’s Basra oil terminal on July 8, and then it appears it sailed toward China and then went to an area off Iran before heading toward Venezuela. The report “suggested it conducted a ship-to-ship transfer between August 11 and 13,” according to the Maritime analytics firm Kpler, the BBC noted.
Bloomberg then reported that four vessels that were heading to Venezuela turned around after the Skipper was detained. “The vessels are the Panama-flagged Bella 1, which was sanctioned by the US for its involvement in the illicit transport of Iranian oil, and the tankers Seeker 8, Karina, and Eurovictory, according to data from maritime intelligence firm Kpler.”
It is not clear if Bella is the same tanker that was targeted by the Justice Department back in 2020. Reuters has said, “The US is preparing to intercept more ships transporting Venezuelan oil following the seizure of a tanker this week, as it increases pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, six sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.”
Iran International noted on Monday that “the seizure by US forces last week of an oil tanker in the Caribbean for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from Iran and Venezuela may signal a policy shift that could endanger the funding of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
It added that “the dramatic raid by Washington, which is the latest move in an escalating pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, now puts the shadowy trade buoying targeted economies in Caracas and Tehran in the crosshairs.”
Iran’s illicit funding streams, which it uses to fund terror, have increasingly been in the sanctions spotlight. In November, the Departments of State and the Treasury said they “are sanctioning shipping networks responsible for funding the Iranian regime’s malign activities through illicit oil sales, as well as an airline and its affiliates that arm and supply Iran-backed terrorist groups. The funds generated by this oil trade are used to support Iran’s regional terrorist proxies and procure weapons systems that pose a direct threat to US forces and our allies.”
In 2022, Iran was accused of smuggling Venezuelan gold to finance Hezbollah.