Brian Hook, the US special envoy for Iran, personally offered several million dollars to the Indian captain of Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1 that is suspected of heading to Syria, the State Department confirmed Wednesday. The Financial Times reported that Hook sent emails to captain Akhilesh Kumar in which he offered "good news" of millions in US cash to live comfortably if he steered the tanker to a country where it could be seized. "We have seen the Financial Times article and can confirm that the details are accurate," a State Department spokeswoman said. "We have conducted extensive outreach to several ship captains as well as shipping companies warning them of the consequences of providing support to a foreign terrorist organization," she said, referring to Irans Revolutionary Guards. The Adrian Darya 1 was held for six weeks by the British overseas territory of Gibraltar on suspicion that it was set to deliver oil from Iran to Syria -- a violation of European Union sanctions on Bashar al-Assads regime. Gibraltar released the ship, formerly called the Grace 1, on August 18 over US protests after receiving written assurances that the vessel would not head to countries sanctioned by the EU. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif mocked Hooks initiative as he pointed to the Financial Times story. "Having failed at piracy, the US resorts to outright blackmail -- deliver us Irans oil and receive several million dollars or be sanctioned yourself," Zarif tweeted. State Department chief spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus hit back using Zarifs exact words, accusing Iran of "outright blackmail" with its call for $15 billion from European powers to be paid back from Irans future oil sales. Iran says that, if it receives the credit line, it will come back into full compliance with a 2015 nuclear accord from which US President Donald Trump withdrew. US authorities said that Kumar, 43, took over as captain in Gibraltar. After he apparently did not respond to the US offer, the Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions both on the ship and on Kumar himself, freezing any assets he may have in the United States and criminalizing any US financial transactions with him. The Adrian Daya 1 has been elusive since sailing off from Gibraltar, with monitors reporting that it has been moving in the eastern Mediterranean near Lebanon.