WELLINGTON: New Zealand has rebuked close neighbour the Cook Islands after an AFP analysis of sanctions data revealed 34 foreign tankers were suspected of oil smuggling while sailing under the Pacific microstate’s flag.
“This is a completely unacceptable and untenable foreign policy divergence,” said Winston Peters, foreign minister of New Zealand, which remains tightly linked to the Cook Islands through a pact of free association.
Dozens of oil tankers suspected of smuggling contraband crude for Russia and Iran have been using a beachside office in the tropical South Pacific nation to cover their tracks, the AFP analysis reveals.
US sanctions data identifies 20 tankers registered in the Cook Islands suspected of smuggling Russian and Iranian fuel between 2024 and 2025.
A further 14 Cook Islands-flagged tankers are blacklisted on a separate database of British sanctions covering the same period.