Venezuelan military announces readiness to protect Iranian tankers

The Venezuelan Defense Minister says that military jets and warships are being deployed to protect Iranian tankers. Apparently, the United States has sent several warships to the Caribbean Sea to prevent the transfer of Iranian oil and gasoline to Venezuela.

AFP reported on Thursday morning, May 21, quoting the Venezuelan Defense Minister, that the country's army is ready to take action to protect the flow of oil and gasoline from Iran.

According to the report, Vladimir Padrino Lopez said in Caracas on Wednesday that as soon as tankers carrying Iranian oil approach Venezuela, military fighter jets and warships will be dispatched to protect them.

Venezuela, like the Islamic Republic, is under severe US sanctions. The fuel shortage crisis in Venezuela has intensified with the onset of the Corona crisis, fueling discontent.

After news was published about several tankers carrying Iranian oil and gasoline heading towards Venezuela, some media outlets reported, citing an official in the Donald Trump administration, that the United States would dispatch several warships to the Caribbean Sea to prevent this, which is considered a violation of sanctions.

On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warning against sending warships to the Caribbean Sea to prevent trade between Iran and Venezuela, calling it "an illegal act and a form of maritime piracy."

Ali Rabiei, a spokesman for Hassan Rouhani's government, had also said a day earlier: "We and Venezuela are two independent governments and we exchange various goods and we do not lie hands and sell our oil." He added: "Iran gives goods to Venezuela and also takes goods. This issue has nothing to do with anyone in the world."

Fars News Agency, a media outlet close to the security forces and the Revolutionary Guard Corps, wrote on Sunday in a report without citing its source that the United States had dispatched four warships to the Caribbean Sea for a "possible confrontation" with tankers carrying Iranian oil.

According to AFP, a senior US Navy official on Monday called the Islamic Republic's "movements" regarding Venezuela "worrying," without directly referring to tankers carrying Iranian oil and gasoline.

Two sanctioned countries and the oil and gold trade

About three weeks ago (May 2), Bloomberg News reported that a Mahan Air plane had transported 9 tons of gold (worth $500 million) to Iran after carrying equipment to repair Venezuelan refinery facilities. According to the report, the company, which is on the US sanctions list, made several flights to Venezuela within a week.

Venezuela's defense minister says he is in contact with his counterpart in the Islamic Republic to coordinate the entry of Iranian oil tankers into the country's waters. He did not elaborate on the likely timing of the oil shipments from Iran.

The United States reimposed sanctions against the Islamic Republic that had been lifted or suspended two years ago after withdrawing from the nuclear deal and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). One of the most important goals of these sanctions, which have been intensified over the past two years, is to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero.

Double violation of sanctions

By exporting oil and gasoline to Venezuela, which according to some reports is being done by five tankers, the Islamic Republic is violating both US sanctions against itself and Washington's sanctions against the government of leftist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Maduro thanked the Islamic Republic for its “support” in a televised speech on Wednesday. Like his government’s defense minister, he did not provide any information about when the tankers carrying Iranian oil would arrive in Venezuelan waters.

Venezuela has long been embroiled in a deep political and economic crisis. Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is recognized as Venezuela's interim president by dozens of countries, including the United States, warned Wednesday against importing oil and gasoline from Iran, calling it a sign of inefficiency and mismanagement by the government of Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela has the world's largest known oil reserves.

Source: DW