Venezuela is strengthening its alliance with Iran. “The first of five ships laden with Iranian petrol crossed in to Venezuelan waters on Sunday in defiance of US sanctions, after Tehran and Caracas warned Washington over any attempt to intercept them.” Iran also threatened America, should it “interfere”:
Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani warned the US….that his country would respond to any “problems” faced by its ships. “If Americans create problems for our oil tankers in the Caribbean waters or anywhere in the world, we will reciprocally create problems for them,” he said. “We always consider it our legitimate right to defend our territorial integrity and national interests and hope Americans do not make a mistake.”
Meanwhile, “Venezuela’s defence minister Vladimir Padrino López said this week the armed forces would escort the tankers ‘to welcome them and to say to the people of Iran, thank you, thank you, for your solidarity.’”
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro thanked Iran for the fuel at a time when Venezuela is gas-starved, and stated: “The end of Ramadan brings us the arrival of the FORTUNE ship, a sign of the solidarity of the Islamic people of Iran with Venezuela.”
The U.S. has already expressed concerns about the presence of Hizballah in Venezuela; meanwhile, the Venezuelan opposition “has launched a campaign to denounce that Venezuela has become a center for financing and money laundering for Hezbollah.” Juan Guaidó, the head of the opposition, has also accused the Maduro regime, saying “it was paying Iran with ‘blood gold’ from illegal mines in Venezuela’s southern jungle.”
“Iranian petrol tanker arrives in Venezuela in defiance of US,” by Gideon Long and Aime Williams, Financial Times, May 24, 2020:
The first of five ships laden with Iranian petrol crossed in to Venezuelan waters on Sunday in defiance of US sanctions, after Tehran and Caracas warned Washington over any attempt to intercept them.
The ships set off from the Middle East in March and April. Iranian-flagged Fortune, the first to reach Venezuelan territorial waters, headed towards refineries in the west, escorted by ships from the Venezuelan navy.
Venezuela is desperately short of petrol despite sitting on the world’s biggest oil reserves. Its refineries have largely collapsed after years of mismanagement and it is struggling to import petrol due to US sanctions designed to push socialist president Nicolás Maduro from power.
Iran is labouring under similar sanctions but has a surplus of petrol due to the global economic crash caused by coronavirus.
The ships come to the Caribbean at a time when the US military has a large presence there. Last month, President Donald Trump sent warships to the area to stop “cartels, criminals, terrorists and other malign actors” exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to smuggle drugs to the US. The force includes destroyers and surveillance aircraft.
Venezuela’s defence minister Vladimir Padrino López said this week the armed forces would escort the tankers “to welcome them and to say to the people of Iran, thank you, thank you, for your solidarity.”
Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani warned the US on Saturday that his country would respond to any “problems” faced by its ships.
“If Americans create problems for our oil tankers in the Caribbean waters or anywhere in the world, we will reciprocally create problems for them,” he said. “We always consider it our legitimate right to defend our territorial integrity and national interests and hope Americans do not make a mistake.”
At a meeting of the Security Council on Thursday, Venezuela’s ambassador to the UN, Samuel Moncada, said Caracas would view any attempt to block the ships as an “act of war”. Iran has also complained to the UN about what it says are US threats to the convoy.
The Americans have played down that idea. The Pentagon said on Thursday it knew of no such plan.
Even so, the convoy is an irritant to the Trump administration. “You have to ask yourself what interest Iran has in Venezuela,” said Admiral Craig Faller, head of US Southern Command, speaking at an event hosted by the Florida International University this week. “It is to gain a positional advantage in our neighbourhood as a way to counter US interests.”
Washington and the Venezuelan opposition suspect the Maduro regime is using gold from central bank reserves to pay Iran rather than cash.
On Friday, Department of State spokesperson Morgan Ortagus accused Venezuela of having “looted” nine tons of gold bars and sent them to Tehran in exchange for the petrol…..