Libya seized a sanctioned Iranian ship off the coast of Misrata, as there were claims that it was carrying weapons. The container Shahr E Kord had left Bulgaria, with Misrata in western Libya being its destination.
According to the interior ministry, the container ship was loaded with 144 containers. As a result, the attorney general ordered the seizure and an investigation of the ship.
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Commenting on the development, Ahmed Mismari, the spokesman for the Libyan National Army claimed that the the Iran Revolutionary Guard owns the ship, which is under international sanctions.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) had put the ship in the black list on November 5, 2018, when it reimposed economic sanctions against Iran.
Under these sanctions, US entities are not allowed to carry out business with Iran, while foreign companies engaging with IRISL or the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) could lose access to the US financial system and US markets.