(NewsNation) — Republican Congressman Mike Lawler of New York says President Trump’s decision to have the U.S. military seize oil tankers in international waters near Venezuela is because of the boats’ ties to Iran.
“What they are doing with these oil tankers is going after illegal oil trades that have ties to Iran,” Lawler, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” on Monday. “I have been one of the leading proponents of going after the illicit Iranian oil trade.”
On Sunday, the Trump administration said the U.S. Coast Guard was pursuing another oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela.
A White House official told NewsNation the oil tanker was under sanctions. President Trump recently announced a blockade of all oil tankers that are under sanctions from entering and leaving Venezuela, the latest move in his pressure campaign on President Nicolas Maduro, with a ramped-up presence in the region and strikes on alleged drug boats.
The chase marks the U.S. military’s third operation in less than a week against a vessel connected to the Venezuelan government.
“These ghost ships that are flying false flags in international waters, they are right to seize them per the sanctions regime that we have put in place,” added Lawler.
Trump administration putting ‘maximum pressure’ on Venezuela: Lawler
Lawler acknowledged Trump is doing everything possible to get Maduro to resign, including “putting maximum pressure economically, militarily, with a build-up off the coast and in the Caribbean.”
“That is vital if we are going to actually be able to stop the deadly flow of drugs and the illicit oil trade that is funding terrorism around the globe,” stated Lawler. “Doing nothing is not an answer. You see what happens when we do nothing.”
Lawler feels Maduro “should not be in charge of Venezuela when he is engaged in terrorism against the United States.”