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Advocacy Group: US Firm's Tanker Illicitly Traded Iran Oil

In this satellite photo provided by Planet Labs PBC, a vessel identified as the Virgo by the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran is seen off Khargh Island, Iran, on Jan. 16, 2022. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
In this satellite photo provided by Planet Labs PBC, a vessel identified as the Virgo by the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran is seen off Khargh Island, Iran, on Jan. 16, 2022. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
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Advocacy Group: US Firm's Tanker Illicitly Traded Iran Oil

In this satellite photo provided by Planet Labs PBC, a vessel identified as the Virgo by the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran is seen off Khargh Island, Iran, on Jan. 16, 2022. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
In this satellite photo provided by Planet Labs PBC, a vessel identified as the Virgo by the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran is seen off Khargh Island, Iran, on Jan. 16, 2022. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

A tanker owned by a Los Angeles-based private equity firm likely took part in the illicit trade of Iranian crude oil at sea despite American sanctions targeting Iran, an advocacy group alleges. The firm said Thursday it is cooperating with US government investigators.

The group United Against Nuclear Iran raised its allegations in a letter dated Tuesday to Oaktree Capital Management, which holds assets worth over $160 billion. Satellite images and maritime tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press correspond to the group's identification of the vessels allegedly involved and showed them side-by-side off the coast of Singapore on Saturday.

The alleged oil transfer comes as world powers and Iran negotiate in Vienna over restoring the nuclear deal. That accord saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions — including those targeting its crucial oil sales.
But Iran even under American sanctions claims to be selling billions of dollars more of crude than before, likely buoyed by energy prices rising to their highest point in years amid the ongoing Ukraine crisis. That makes the sales even more lucrative and increases the challenge of enforcing sanctions if the Vienna talks collapse.

In a statement to the AP, Oaktree subsidiary Fleetscape — which owns the oil tanker Suez Rajan — said it is “committed to using best practices in its operations and complying with US sanctions laws.”

“We take any allegation of non-compliance very seriously and are cooperating fully with the US authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into this matter,” Fleetscape said.

The company did not elaborate. The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The US Treasury, which investigates and enforces sanctions, declined to comment.

Satellite-tracking data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by the AP showed the Marshall Island-flagged Suez Rajan in the South China Sea off the northeast of Singapore on Saturday. That data also shows the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker Virgo in the same area.

Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC of that area obtained by the AP appear to show the ships alongside each other. At sea, oil tankers can funnel crude between each other in a ship-to-ship transfer that typically sees boats in a similar position.

In separate Planet Labs satellite images from Jan. 16, the Virgo appears to be loading crude oil from Iran's Khargh Island, its main oil distribution terminal in the Arabian Gulf. Tracking data separately shows the vessel near Khargh around that time before heading to Singapore.

United Nations records show the Virgo's owners as a company out of Suriname, which could not be immediately reached for comment.

Iran's mission to the United Nations also did not respond to a request for comment.

Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers saw it regain the ability to sell oil openly on the international market. But in 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord and re-imposed American sanctions. That slammed the door on much of Iran's lucrative crude oil trade, a major engine for its economy and its government.

But in recent months, Iranian officials have been suggesting they've been able to sell crude oil anyway around American sanctions. The Central Bank of Iran issued statistics at the start of February suggesting it made $18.6 billion in oil sales in the first half of this Persian year, as opposed to $8.5 billion the same period last year, according to the state-run IRAN newspaper.

Much of that oil is believed to be heading to China, some through similar ship-to-ship transfers that United Against Nuclear Iran believes took place with the Suez Raja this week. Venezuela also has received Iranian tankers to its ports.

Iran is “dependent on the international shipping industry for imports of sensitive technology and industrial goods as well as oil and petrochemical exports needed to fund” its nuclear program, the New York-based United Against Nuclear Iran said in its letter to Oaktree Capital.
The US government also has said Iranian oil sales revenue funds the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force, an expeditionary unit believed to be working abroad in countries like Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen to back Iranian-allied militias.

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Indonesian Rescuers Dig through Volcanic Ash after Eruption Kills 9 and Destroys Buildings

A general view of a residential area covered with volcanic ash at an area affected by the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano at Flores Timur, Indonesia, November 4, 2024. (Antara Foto/Pemulet Paul/via Reuters)
A general view of a residential area covered with volcanic ash at an area affected by the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano at Flores Timur, Indonesia, November 4, 2024. (Antara Foto/Pemulet Paul/via Reuters)
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Indonesian Rescuers Dig through Volcanic Ash after Eruption Kills 9 and Destroys Buildings

A general view of a residential area covered with volcanic ash at an area affected by the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano at Flores Timur, Indonesia, November 4, 2024. (Antara Foto/Pemulet Paul/via Reuters)
A general view of a residential area covered with volcanic ash at an area affected by the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano at Flores Timur, Indonesia, November 4, 2024. (Antara Foto/Pemulet Paul/via Reuters)

Rescue workers on Tuesday were sifting through smoldering debris and thick mud in search of survivors, a day after a volcano on Indonesia’s remote island of Flores erupted with fury, killing at least nine people with its searing lava and ash.

Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki spewed thick brownish ash as high as 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) into the air, and searing lava, gravel and ash were thrown up to seven kilometers (4.3 miles) from its crater, blanketing nearby villages and towns with tons of volcanic debris and forcing residents to flee.

The National Disaster Management Agency on Tuesday lowered the known death toll from an earlier report of 10, saying it had received updated information from rescuers that a victim trapped under tons of debris in a collapsed house who was feared dead was eventually rescued alive and was now in critical condition at a hospital. The agency said 63 other people were hospitalized, 31 of them with serious injuries.

More than 2,400 villagers streamed into makeshift emergency shelters after Monday's powerful eruption that burned down seven schools and 23 houses, including a convent of nuns, on the majority-Catholic island, said the agency’s spokesperson, Abdul Muhari.

Smoldering debris, thick mud and a power blackout hampered the evacuation and search efforts, said Kensius Didimus, a local disaster agency chief,

"We’ll do everything we can to evacuate villagers by preparing trucks and motorbikes for them to flee at any time," he said, adding that the debris and lava mixed with rainfall formed thick mud that destroyed the main roads on the island.

Authorities warned the thousands of people who fled the volcano’s wrath not to return during Tuesday’s lull in activity. But some were desperate to check on livestock and possessions left behind. In several areas, everything — from the thinnest tree branch to couches and chairs inside homes — was caked with ash.

Videos released by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed roads that were covered in heavy gray ash and houses covered by thick gray mud, rocks and uprooted trees.

The country’s geology agency said a series of eruptions since Thursday had created an accumulation of hidden energy due to a blockage of magma in the crater, which reduced detectible seismic activity while building up pressure.

"The eruptions have eased pressure that had been building under a lava dome perched on the crater," said Priatin Hadi Wijaya, who heads the Center for Volcanology and Disaster Mitigation. "But we should anticipate hot ash and debris could tumble down from the crater due to heavy rains."

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has instructed his Cabinet and disaster and military officials to coordinate the response, said Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Pratikno, who like many Indonesians uses a single name.

The country’s volcano monitoring agency increased the volcano’s alert status to the highest level and more than doubled the exclusion zone to a seven-kilometer (4.3-mile) radius after midnight on Monday as eruptions became more frequent.

Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of a pair of stratovolcanoes in the East Flores district of East Nusa Tenggara province known locally as the husband and wife mountains. "Laki laki" means husband, while its mate is Lewotobi Perempuan, or woman.

About 6,500 people were evacuated in January after Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki began erupting, spewing thick clouds and forcing the government to close the island’s Frans Seda Airport. No casualties or major damage were reported, but the airport has remained closed since then due to seismic activity.

This is Indonesia’s second volcanic eruption in as many weeks. West Sumatra province’s Mount Marapi, one of the country’s most active volcanos, erupted on Oct. 27, spewing thick columns of ash at least three times and blanketing nearby villages with debris, but no casualties were reported.

Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of the 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago of 280 million people. The country is prone to earthquakes, landslides and volcanic activity because it sits along the "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.