US prosecutors late on Wednesday filed a lawsuit to seize Iranian fuel from four tankers carrying it to Venezuela.
It is the latest attempt by the US administration of President Donald Trump to increase economic pressure on the two foes.
The government of Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro has made no secret of the tankers, which departed last month, to show it remains unbowed by US pressure.
Washington has been pressing for the removal of Mr Maduro with measures including sanctions on state oil company PDVSA.
Petrol shortages in Venezuela, which like Iran is a member of Opec, have grown acute due to US sanctions, and the country has undergone an economic collapse.
Its refineries are largely inactive through neglect and lack of investment.
But Mr Maduro has held on and the failure to unseat him has frustrated the US president.
In the civil-forfeiture complaint, US federal prosecutors aim to stop the delivery of Iranian fuel aboard the Liberia-flagged Bella and Bering, and the Pandi and Luna, according to the lawsuit, first reported in The Wall Street Journal.
The suit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks to deter future deliveries.
US District Judge James Boasberg issued a warrant for the seizure of the more than 1.1 million barrels of petrol in the four tankers, the Justice Department said on Thursday.
The warrant allows American authorities, probably the US Coast Guard, to seize the fuel.
The lawsuit also aims to stop the flow of revenue from petroleum sales to Iran, which Washington has sanctioned over its nuclear programme, ballistic missiles, and influence across the Middle East.
Tehran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.
Zia Faruqui and two other assistant US attorneys allege in the lawsuit that Iranian businessman Mahmoud Madanipour, who is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, helped to arrange the shipments by changing documents about the tankers to evade US sanctions.
The lawsuit says that since September 2018, the Guards' elite Quds Force has moved oil through a sanctioned shipping network involving dozens of ship managers, vessels and facilitators.
Profits from the shipments support the "full range of nefarious activities, including proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for terrorism, and a variety of human rights abuses, at home and abroad", the lawsuit said.
The ships carrying Iranian petrol engaged in ship-to-ship transfers to evade sanctions, the lawsuit said.
It was not immediately clear whether or how the US would move to seize the petrol.
The US government must prove the fuel is forfeitable under law in a civil proceeding before seizing it permanently.
Last year, the US failed to stop the Adrian Darya, formerly known as Grace 1, a tanker in the Mediterranean carrying Iranian oil, through blacklisting it and other measures.
The Adrian Darya was originally seized by British Royal Marine commandos on suspicion of being on its way to deliver to Syria against UN sanctions.
But it was released by Gibraltar after receiving written assurance from Tehran the ship would not deliver its cargo of 2.1 million barrels of oil to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
After a warrant was issued for the Adrian Darya last year, Brian Hook, the State Department's top Iran official, sent emails to its captain.
They said the Trump administration was offering him several million dollars to steer the tanker to a country that would impound it on behalf of Washington.
The oil was eventually sold to Syria.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
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Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
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Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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6.30pm: Mazrat Al Ruwayah Group Two (PA) US$55,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
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10pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 2,410m
The National selections: 6.30pm: RM Lam Tara, 7.05pm: Al Mukhtar Star, 7.40pm: Bochart, 8.15pm: Magic Lily, 8.50pm: Roulston Scar, 9.25pm: Quip, 10pm: Jalmoud
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Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
