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US Says It Disrupts Illicit Oil Shipment by Iran's IRGC, Seizes Contraband Crude

A national Iranian flag waves in the wind over a building of the Iranian embassy, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 24, 2022. (Reuters)
A national Iranian flag waves in the wind over a building of the Iranian embassy, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 24, 2022. (Reuters)
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US Says It Disrupts Illicit Oil Shipment by Iran's IRGC, Seizes Contraband Crude

A national Iranian flag waves in the wind over a building of the Iranian embassy, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 24, 2022. (Reuters)
A national Iranian flag waves in the wind over a building of the Iranian embassy, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 24, 2022. (Reuters)

The US on Friday confirmed it disrupted in April a multi-million-dollar shipment of crude oil by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, seizing more than 980,000 barrels of contraband crude oil that violated US sanctions.

In a sanctions enforcement operation, the US confiscated cargo onboard the Suez Rajan, a Marshall Islands tanker, which was carrying Iranian oil at sea. The vessel was unloaded last month after waiting 2-1/2 months off the coast of Texas to discharge.

The "illicit sale and transport of Iranian oil" violated sanctions targeting Iran, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement that for the first time acknowledged its role.

The Suez Rajan Ltd company pleaded guilty in April and was sentenced by to three years of corporate probation and a fine of almost $2.5 million, according to legal documents.

Empire Navigation, the operating company of the vessel carrying the contraband cargo, agreed to cooperate and transport the Iranian oil to the United States, the DOJ added, calling it the first criminal resolution to such a sanctions-violating sale.

Greece-based Empire Navigation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"It's a message to every Iranian smuggler that there is an off ramp from the mob," said Mark Wallace, chief executive of US advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, which uses satellite images to track tanker movement and first noted that the Suez Rajan had taken on the oil from another tanker.

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At Least 10 Dead, 32 Injured in a Hotel Fire at a Ski Resort in Northwestern Türkiye

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a hotel at a ski resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, in northwest Türkiye, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (IHA via AP)[ASSOCIATED PRESS]
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a hotel at a ski resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, in northwest Türkiye, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (IHA via AP)[ASSOCIATED PRESS]
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At Least 10 Dead, 32 Injured in a Hotel Fire at a Ski Resort in Northwestern Türkiye

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a hotel at a ski resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, in northwest Türkiye, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (IHA via AP)[ASSOCIATED PRESS]
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a hotel at a ski resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, in northwest Türkiye, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (IHA via AP)[ASSOCIATED PRESS]

A fire at a hotel at a ski resort in northwestern Türkiye on Tuesday killed at least 10 people and hospitalized 32 others, officials said.
The fire broke out at around 3:30 a.m. in the restaurant of the 12-story Grand Kartal hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, officials and reports said. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Two of the victims died after jumping from the building in a panic, Gov. Abdulaziz Aydin told the state-run Anadolu Agency. Private NTV television said some people tried to climb down from their rooms using sheets and blankets, The Associated Press said.
There were 234 guests staying at the hotel, Aydin said.
Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, said he was asleep when the fire erupted and he rushed out of the building. He told NTV television that he then helped some 20 guests out of the hotel.
He said the hotel was engulfed in smoke, making it difficult for guests to locate the fire escape.
“I cannot reach some of my students. I hope they are OK,” the ski instructor told the station.
Television images showed the roof and top floors of the hotel on fire.
The government appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the fire. NTV television suggested that the wooden cladding on the exterior of the hotel, in a chalet-style design, may have accelerated the spread of the fire.
The 161-room hotel is on the side of a cliff, hampering efforts to combat the flames, the station also reported.
Kartalkaya is a popular ski resort in the Koroglu mountains, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Istanbul. The fire occurred during the school semester break when hotels in the region are packed.
Aydin's office said 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances were sent to the site.
Other hotels at the resort were evacuated as a precaution and guests were placed in hotels around Bolu.