February 3, 2000
Web posted at: 6:21 a.m. EST (1121 GMT)

In this story: First boarding of Russian vessel Limited Iraq oil exports allowed RELATED STORIES, SITES

MOSCOW (CNN) -- Russia on Thursday demanded the immediate release of a tanker seized in the Persian Gulf by the U.S. Navy on suspicion of violating the U.N.-imposed oil embargo on Iraq.

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Situation in Iraq

"The Russian side resolutely insists the tanker is immediately released," Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vasily Seredin as saying. Russia had "expressed its puzzlement" to the United States and the United Arab Emirates over the incident, Seredin said.

Sailors from the cruiser USS Monterey boarded the Russian ship Volgonef on Wednesday without resistance from its captain or crew, a senior U.S. official told CNN.

The deputy minister, echoing earlier remarks by Transport Minister Sergei Frank, said the tanker was carrying Iranian fuel oil.

"The vessel never entered Iraqi territorial waters or Iraqi ports," he said.

The oil embargo, which allows limited oil sales by Iraq, is part of economic sanctions imposed by the U.N. on Baghdad after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The Volgonef and another Russian ship had been monitored by the United States for several weeks on suspicion they were carrying Iraqi oil from Shatt al Arab, Iraq, to the port of al Fujayrah in the United Arab Emirates.

The second ship remains in Iranian territorial waters, preventing the United States from boarding, Defense sources said.

First boarding of Russian vessel

While the inspection of ships in the Persian Gulf for suspected smuggling is not unusual, it is the first time a Russian ship has been involved.

The administration official said the incident demonstrates that the United States "will vigorously enforce" the U.N. oil embargo. The United States and the United Nations will continue to put a "high priority on (alleged) Iraqi smuggling" even when it involves a country such as Russia, the official said.

Senior military officials said Iran may also be implicated, for allegedly allowing the Volgonef to directly offload smuggled oil to other ships.

There has been an increased level of suspected smuggling in recent months due to rising oil prices, sources said.

In December alone, approximately 130 ships have been involved in oil smuggling, a record number since the inception of the embargo, U.S. officials said.

Limited Iraqi oil exports allowed

To cut the human cost of the sanctions, the United Nations developed the oil-for-food program, which allows Iraq to sell $5.26 billion worth of oil over six months to buy food, medicine and other basic supplies.

Baghdad has dismissed a U.N. Security Council resolution issued on December 17 to ease sanctions if Iraq allows U.N. weapons inspectors to resume work in the country.

The weapons inspections have been suspended since last December, when the U.N. Special Commission pulled inspectors out of the country just days before the United States and Britain launched massive airstrikes against Iraq.

Correspondents Chris Plante, Kelly Wallace and Sarah Ruth and Reuters contributed to this report.

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