Iran calls US 'pirates' for selling seized oil
The Justice Department announced Thursday the sale of 1.1 million barrels of Iranian refined petroleum.
Iran accused the United States of "piracy" a day after the US Department of Justice announced the sale of Iranian-produced fuel seized from Venezuela-bound tankers.
On Thursday, officials from the Justice Department said the US government had sold and delivered 1.1 million barrels of refined petroleum seized in August from four petroleum tankers heading from Iran to Venezuela, both of which are under US sanctions. The estimated $40 million from the fuel sales is to be used to support a fund for victims of state-sponsored terrorism.
“The Pirates of the Caribbean openly boasting abt(about) their booty... No one civilized brags abt stealing,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Friday on Twitter.
Iran denies the oil was Iranian, with Khatibzadeh tweeting “it wasn't ours.”
