Trump warns against sending cargoes to Venezuela, moves Iranian shipments to Houston

US President Donald Trump has warned against sending cargoes to Venezuela.

While stating this on Friday August 14, 2020, Trump ordered movement of four seized Iranian shipments to Houston, Texas.

“They’re going to Houston. And, they’re there,” Trump told a White House news conference.

“We’re moving them, and moved, to Houston,” he said.

The US earlier said it had confiscated the Iranian fuel shipments that had been bound for Venezuela.

The US Justice Department said the seized cargo was now in US custody “with the assistance of foreign partners,”

It added that the amount confiscated from four tankers was about 1.116 million barrels of fuel, making it the largest-ever US seizure of Iranian fuel.

The US State Department credited its outgoing special envoy for Iran for the seizure operation.

“Our diplomacy, led by Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook, was able to both halt these shipments and assist the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security in executing a US seizure order,” it said in a statement.

Neither the Justice Department nor the State Department specify when, where or how the seizure took place.