US authorities have indicted nine individuals in connection with alleged schemes to smuggle Iranian oil, marking Washington’s latest salvo against Tehran as military tensions escalate between the two countries.The US Department of Justice on Friday unsealed court documents accusing individuals from Iran, Turkey, China and Oman of operating a global network to illicitly sell Iranian oil to government-linked buyers in Russia, Syria and China. It also seized more than $108mn and 500,000 barrels of fuel valued at more than $25mn, it said.
It is Washington’s latest effort to cut off Tehran’s critical oil revenues. The seized assets “would otherwise have enabled Iran to further its destabilising activities that threaten our national security”, Merrick Garland, US attorney-general, said in a statement.
The charges came just before Washington launched air strikes in retaliation for a drone attack last weekend by Iranian-backed militias that killed three US service members. The militias have carried out more than 160 attacks on US service members since the war between Israel and Hamas began in October.