U.S. Seized Iranian Oil Over Smuggling Incident That Escalated Tensions in Gulf

U.S. seized nearly 1 million barrels of Iranian oil from tanker M/T Suez Rajan bound for China, violating sanctions.
Seizure part of conflict with Iran, which seized 2 tankers after Rajan headed to U.S.
Advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran identified ship as smuggling Iranian oil based on satellite images.
Justice Dept negotiated deal with ship's operator Empire Navigation to bring it to U.S. to seize cargo.
Oil to be sold, proceeds likely to fund compensating victims of state-sponsored terrorism.

nytimes.com

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