Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the US has reliable information that shows the Iranian tanker Adrian Darya 1 (formerly Grace 1) is headed for the port city of Tartus in Syria.

The US secretary of State tweeted: “Foreign Minister Javad Zarif guaranteed to the UK that the IRGC oil tanker Grace 1/Adrian Darya 1 would not head to Syria.‎ We have reliable information that the tanker is underway and headed to Tartus, Syria.‎ I hope it changes course.‎ It was a big mistake to trust Zarif.”

On Friday night, the Wall Street Journal reported: “Adrian Darya 1 tanker wants to transfer its oil cargo to smaller vessels in order to deliver Iranian crude oil to Syria.

A few hours before Pompeo’s tweet about the supertanker, the US treasury added the captain of Adrian Darya 1 to the list of US sanctions.

The Treasury statement points out that the tanker works for the Quds Force, the international branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In another reaction, John Bolton, the White House national security adviser, praised the decision to the tanker and its captain to the sanctions list.

Bolton tweeted: “Sanctions are serious, and so is captaining a vessel engaged in illicit activity. Let this be a lesson to anyone tempted to support moving Iranian oil destined for Assad’s murderous regime.”