In response to a question by Al Jazeera, the US State Department confirmed that US authorities have offered millions of dollars to the captains of Iranian oil tankers in exchange for handing over tankers to a country that could represent the United States in its custody.
The State Department official said the data in an article in the Financial Times about the contacts was accurate, adding that the US authorities had warned many ship captains and shipping companies of the consequences of providing support to a foreign terrorist organization.
According to the newspaper, Akhilesh Kumar, the Indian captain of the Iranian oil tanker "Grace 1" who was detained in Gibraltar, received an email from the US special envoy to Iran, Brian Hawk, offering him several million dollars in exchange for the delivery of the tanker to a country it is holding on behalf of the states. United.
It is noteworthy that the letter, which included the phone number of the US State Department official, arrived to the captain of the Iranian tanker only four days before the imposition of US sanctions, after the release of the authorities of Gibraltar.
In response to the Financial Times report, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet on Twitter: "After failing to piracy, the United States is resorting to direct blackmail.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized the British-flagged tanker Stina Ambro on July 19 in the Strait of Hormuz for "non-compliance with international maritime law."
Tehran also seized another oil tanker on July 31 with seven foreign crew on board, saying it was carrying 700,000 liters of smuggled fuel.
The Revolutionary Guards said they had taken the ship to the southern port of Bushehr and handed over to the authorities the ship that was on its way to deliver crude oil to Gulf states.
Meanwhile, Gibraltar authorities released an Iranian oil tanker in the middle of last month, after holding it for five weeks on suspicion of transporting Iranian oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions.