US officials confirmed the confiscation of tankers carrying Iranian fuel shipments en route to Venezuela, while the UN Security Council began voting on a US draft resolution to extend the arms embargo imposed on Iran, but it meets strong opposition from Russia and China.

The Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying that US President Donald Trump's administration confiscated 4 tankers believed to be loaded with about 1.1 million barrels of Iranian fuel under the pretext of violating US sanctions imposed on Tehran.

Officials told the newspaper that the tankers had been seized without using military force, and that they were now on their way to Houston.

For its part, the Associated Press quoted a US official as saying that the owners and captains of the tankers have been threatened with sanctions to hand over the fuel shipments, and that the fuel is now the property of the United States.

Reuters also quoted a US government source as saying that the tankers were unloaded on other ships in preparation for transport to the United States.

Last month, federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit to seize 4 tankers sailing from Iran to Venezuela.

On the other hand, Iranian media quoted the account of the Iranian ambassador to Venezuela on Twitter that the tankers detained by Washington were not Iranian, and the account said that the claim to stop Iranian ships is slander and psychological warfare.

In late May, Venezuela confirmed the arrival of the first Iranian tankers carrying fuel, and Iran aims, through this process, to support its ally, which suffers from a shortage of fuel, even though it has the largest proven reserves of crude oil in the world.

Arms embargo
on the other hand, a diplomat of the island source said that the UN Security Council yesterday began Thursday the voting process remotely on a US draft resolution rate on the extension of the arms embargo imposed on Iran under the nuclear deal signed in 2015, which ends on 18 October / October next.

He added that the vote will continue for 24 hours, and that its results will be announced today, Friday, in an open session.

The US bill provides for the extension of the arms embargo on Iran until the Security Council decides otherwise.

The source who spoke to Al-Jazeera expected that the revised US project would not gain much support because Russia and China were still opposed to it.

If the draft resolution fails, the United States may resort to activating the so-called return to the original state clause that allows any state party to the nuclear agreement to activate all previous international sanctions, in the event that Iran is accused of not adhering to the terms of the agreement.

However, the source confirmed that Washington could not use this clause because it withdrew from the nuclear deal in May 2018.

The Associated Press had indicated the possibility that Russia and China would use the right of veto to drop the American project, and it also suggested that the project would not win the nine votes needed to pass it.

Simultaneously, US President Donald Trump pledged to conclude a speedy agreement with Iran if he wins a second presidential term in the next November elections, but he did not specify the conditions that he wants for such an agreement.

Trump said at a news conference yesterday in Washington that Iran was eager to strike a deal with the United States.