A civil complaint has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking forfeiture of assets linked to the Islamic Republic
A civil complaint has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking forfeiture of assets linked to the Islamic Republic
A civil complaint has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking forfeiture of assets linked to the Islamic Republic.
The filing states that $47 million in proceeds from the sale of nearly one million barrels of Iranian oil is subject to seizure.
The oil is currently in U.S. government custody but cannot be accessed.
The civil forfeiture complaint is only an allegation, and the U.S. government must prove the legality of the seizure through civil proceedings or otherwise end the detention.
The Islamic Republic does not recognize these courts and refrains from defending itself in such proceedings.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) typically responds to such actions by detaining Iranian-American dual nationals.
The complaint states that the funds constitute assets or resources of the IRGC or its foreign operations branch, the Quds Force - both designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.
According to the filing, a scheme was implemented during Ebrahim Raisi’s presidency to facilitate the transportation, storage, and sale of Iranian petroleum products for the benefit of the IRGC and Quds Force.
Those involved reportedly used deceptive methods to disguise Iranian oil as Malaysian oil, including manipulating tanker identification systems to hide loading at Iranian ports and selling the sanctioned oil to European and Asian customers as Malaysian oil to generate dollar revenue.
They presented false documents to storage and port facilities in Croatia, claiming the oil came from Malaysia.
Storage costs in Croatia were paid in U.S. dollars through American financial institutions, which would have refused the transactions had they known of the connection to Iranian oil.
In 2024, the petroleum product was sold, and the United States seized $47 million in resulting revenue.
The complaint further states that the National Iranian Oil Company owns the petroleum product and has committed federal terrorism offenses by financially supporting the IRGC and Quds Force.
Funds seized through the process may be allocated to the U.S. Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Fund.
People who have previously successfully sued Iran in U.S. courts can claim compensation from the funds.