US seeks forfeiture of $47m in Iranian oil proceeds linked to IRGC

The US Justice Department has filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking to seize $47 million in proceeds from the sale of nearly one million barrels of Iranian oil, alleging the funds benefited the IRGC and its Qods Force, both designated as terrorist organizations.

The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, outlines an alleged scheme between 2022 and 2024 to illicitly ship, store, and sell Iranian oil for the benefit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the IRGC-QF.

According to the Justice Department, facilitators used deceptive tactics to conceal the oil's Iranian origin, falsely labeling it as Malaysian.

The alleged scheme involved manipulating the tanker's Automatic Identification System (AIS) to conceal that the oil was loaded from an Iranian port.

Additionally, the facilitators are accused of presenting falsified documents to a storage and port facility in Croatia, claiming the oil was of Malaysian origin.

Storage fees in Croatia were reportedly paid in US dollars through US financial institutions, transactions that authorities believe would have been rejected had the institutions been aware of the oil's Iranian connection.

The petroleum product was ultimately sold in 2024, leading to the seizure of the $47 million in proceeds that are now subject to the forfeiture complaint.

The Justice Department further contends that the petroleum is the property of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), which it accuses of perpetuating a federal crime of terrorism by providing material support to the IRGC and IRGC-QF.

The complaint alleges that profits generated from such sales support the IRGC's "full range of malign activities," including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems, support for terrorism, and human rights abuses both within Iran and internationally.

The Justice Department noted that funds successfully forfeited that are linked to a state sponsor of terrorism may be directed, in whole or in part, to the US Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund.

The case is being investigated by the FBI's Minneapolis Field Office and Homeland Security Investigations in New York, with Assistant US Attorneys and a Trial Attorney from the National Security Division handling the litigation.

The Justice Department emphasized that a civil forfeiture complaint is merely an allegation, and the government bears the burden of proving forfeitability in the civil forfeiture proceeding.

In February, US President Donald Trump's signed a directive restoring the so-called maximum pressure policy on Iran of his first term aimed at driving the Islamic Republic's oil exports to zero.

Oil is critical for Iran's economy, accounting for around 15% of Iran's GDP and at least half of the government's budget, employing around a third of the country's 25 million workers.

Under the Biden administration, Iran's oil revenues surged due to weak sanctions enforcement. Trump has vowed to reverse it and bring the oil exports to zero, if Iran refuses to curtail its nuclear program.