Evidence from credible sources supports the statement as accurate. Learn more in Methodology.
Verify court filings/warrants and records of seizures of sanctioned oil-carrying vessels by U.S. authorities and ongoing operational orders indicating continued seizures.
Multiple official and independent records show that the U.S. government has repeatedly gone to federal court, obtained seizure/forfeiture warrants, and then seized oil cargoes and tankers tied to sanctions violations. In July 2020, U.S. authorities filed a civil forfeiture complaint and secured a U.S. District Court warrant "to seize all Iranian gasoline" aboard the tankers Bella, Bering, Pandi, and Luna, based on links to Iran’s IRGC, and then executed those seizures. In March 2020, Cambodian authorities seized the tanker M/T Courageous "in accordance with a U.S. warrant" after U.S. prosecutors alleged it was used to ship petroleum products to North Korea in violation of sanctions. In the Suez Rajan case, a U.S. court issued a seizure warrant for nearly 1 million barrels of Iranian crude; the operating company agreed to transport the oil to the United States "for seizure" under a deferred prosecution agreement. These examples confirm that the described pattern—sanctioning entities, obtaining court warrants, and seizing oil-carrying vessels or cargo—has been a standard U.S. enforcement practice, and there is no evidence it has ceased.
Verdict: True, because documented cases show the U.S. has in fact been obtaining court warrants and seizing sanctioned oil tankers and their cargoes as described, and the statement’s forward-looking "will continue" is consistent with ongoing, established enforcement practice.