Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

US offered millions in cash to Indian captain of Iranian tanker

A SENIOR US official personally offered several million dollars to the Indian captain of an Iranian oil tanker suspected of heading to Syria, the state department confirmed Wednesday (4).

The Financial Times reported that Brian Hook, the state department pointman on Iran, sent emails to captain Akhilesh Kumar in which he offered "good news" of millions in US cash to live comfortably if he steered the Adrian Darya 1 to a country where it could be seized.


"We have seen the Financial Times article and can confirm that the details are accurate," a state department spokeswoman said.

"We have conducted extensive outreach to several ship captains as well as shipping companies warning them of the consequences of providing support to a foreign terrorist organization," she said, referring to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

The Adrian Darya 1 was held for six weeks by the British overseas territory of Gibraltar on suspicion that it was set to deliver oil from Iran to its main Arab ally Syria- a violation of European Union sanctions on president Bashar al-Assad's iron-fisted regime.

Gibraltar released the ship, formerly called the Grace 1, on August 18 over US protests after receiving written assurances that the vessel would not head to countries sanctioned by the European Union.

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif mocked Hook's initiative as he pointed to the Financial Times story.

"Having failed at piracy, the US resorts to outright blackmail -- deliver us Iran's oil and receive several million dollars or be sanctioned yourself," Zarif tweeted.

State department chief spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus hit back using Zarif's exact words, accusing Iran of "outright blackmail" with its call for $15 billion from European powers to be paid back from Iran's future oil sales.

Iran says that, if it receives the credit line, it will come back into full compliance with a 2015 nuclear accord from which US president Donald Trump withdrew.

US authorities said that Kumar, 43, took over as captain in Gibraltar. After he apparently did not respond to the US offer, the treasury department imposed sanctions both on the ship and on Kumar himself, freezing any assets he may have in the US and criminalizing any US financial transactions with him.

"Any US or foreign persons that engage in certain transactions with designated persons or entities may themselves be exposed to sanctions," the first state department spokeswoman said.

The Adrian Daya 1 has been elusive since sailing off from Gibraltar, with monitors reporting that it has been moving in the eastern Mediterranean near Lebanon.

The US also announced Wednesday that it was imposing sanctions on a shipping network alleged to be tied to the Revolutionary Guards and offering up to $15 million for information that could disrupt the unit's finances.

The shipping network sold more than $500m this spring, mostly in Syria, according to the treasury department.

After pulling from the nuclear accord, the United States has unilaterally threatened sanctions aimed at ending all oil sales by Iran in a bid to diminish the clerical regime's regional influence.

(AFP)

More For You

King Charles

King Charles, wearing a black armband to pay respects to the victims of Air India plane crash, attends the Trooping the Colour parade on his official birthday in London. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Victims remembered during King Charles's birthday parade

A MINUTE's silence for the victims of the Air India plane crash was observed on Saturday during the Trooping the Colour parade in London marking King Charles's official birthday. Some members of the royal family wore black armbands during the ceremony.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said King Charles, 76, had requested changes to the parade “as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy”.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rochdale grooming case

They were all remanded in custody, except Bashir, who absconded before the trial began. (Photo: Greater Manchester Police)

Seven men convicted of raping 13-year-old girls in Rochdale grooming case

SEVEN men were convicted on Friday in the UK’s latest grooming trial, after a jury heard that two girl victims were forced to have sex “with multiple men on the same day, in filthy flats and on rancid mattresses”.

Jurors at the court in Manchester, northwest England, deliberated for three weeks before finding the seven men, all of whom are of South Asian descent, guilty of rape.

Keep ReadingShow less
karan-thakar

Karun Thakar is a leading textile collector with a lifelong focus on Asian and African textiles

Karun Collection

Karun Thakar Fund to support textile research with scholarships and grants

THE KARUN THAKAR FUND, established by textile collector Karun Thakar in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), supports the study of Asian and African textiles and dress through scholarships and project grants.

The fund offers one-time Scholarship Awards of up to £10,000 for university students worldwide focusing on any aspect of Asian or African textiles and dress. Undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students from any accredited university are eligible, provided their research or practice is clearly linked to these areas. The next round of Scholarship Award applications opens on 1 May 2025 and closes at 23:59 on July 15, 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India

A view shows the wreckage of the tail section of an Air India aircraft, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, which crashed during take-off from airport in Ahmedabad. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Probe focuses on engine and flaps; safety checks ordered for 787 fleet

THE INVESTIGATION into the Air India crash that killed more than 240 people is focusing on the aircraft's engine, flaps, and landing gear.

The Indian aviation regulator has ordered safety checks on the airline’s entire Boeing 787 fleet, reported Reuters.

Keep ReadingShow less