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Iran's capacity to move oil relies on service providers in Malaysia, US says
Brian Nelson, Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, was speaking during a four-day visit to Singapore and Malaysia.
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Oil supertanker Grace 1 on suspicion of being carrying Iranian crude oil to Syria is seen near Gibraltar, Spain July 4, 2019. (Reuters/-)
T
he United States perceives Iran's capacity to move its oil as being reliant on service providers based in Malaysia, the US Treasury Department's top sanctions official said on Tuesday.
Brian Nelson, Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, was speaking during a four-day visit to Singapore and Malaysia.
He also said the United States was seeking to prevent Malaysia from becoming a jurisdiction where Palestinian militant group Hamas could raise funds and move money.
A US Treasury delegation is expected to discuss the consequences of allowing transshipments of Washington-sanctioned Iranian oil in meetings with government officials in Kuala Lumpur this week, amid longtime allegations by Western news and research firms that Malaysia permits Iran to use its waters for ship-to-ship petroleum transfers.
The American officials who arrived in Kuala Lumpur late on Monday will engage in blunt discussions with their Malaysian counterparts, US Ambassador Edgard Kagan said on the sidelines of Asia’s largest defense show.
“We are confident that the Malaysian government understands the US position with regard to transshipment of oil that has been sanctioned, and understands the potential impact that this could have,” Kagan was quoted by Benarnews in response to a question about whether Washington sees Malaysia as a transshipment hub for Iranian oil.
He did not elaborate on what he meant by “potential impact,” which could mean anything from sanctions on Malaysia to an emboldened Iran potentially causing more trouble for Washington. Sanctions deny people or companies access to assets within the United States and prevent American citizens or financial institutions from doing business with them.
“We look forward to candid and frank discussions that are going to be done very much from our standpoint in the spirit of working together to address a common problem,” Kagan said.
Iran has been the target of a range of American sanctions since 1979, after students seized the US Embassy in Tehran and took hostages. The latest ones have been implemented over Iran’s nuclear program.
