US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that the Trump administration was imposing sanctions on five Iranian ship captains who had delivered oil to Venezuela.
Speaking to reporters, Pompeo also said the United States continues to support Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido. Washington, which seeks the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and most other Western governments have recognized Guaido as the legitimate leader of the OPEC nation.
The ship captain delivered approximately 1.5 million barrels of Iranian gasoline and related components to Venezuela in support of the Maduro regime, said the State Department.
“These individuals who headed five Iranian-flagged tankers – Clavel, Petunia, Fortune, Forest, and Faxon – to Venezuela’s shores are now added to the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List) maintained by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control,” it added.
“The rogue regimes in Caracas and Tehran are unified by their penchant for repressing their people, corruption, self-enrichment, and gross mismanagement of their peoples’ wealth,” it continued. “Iran’s continued support to Venezuela is yet another instance of Iran wasting its people’s resources on ill-conceived foreign adventurism that prolongs suffering abroad.”
“As a result of today’s sanctions, these captains’ assets will be blocked. Their careers and prospects will suffer from this designation. Mariners who are considering work with Iran and Venezuela should understand that aiding these oppressive regimes is simply not worth the risk. Individuals and entities will face consequences from the United States if they do business with the Iranian regime, Maduro, or his cronies,” it warned.
