Iran delivers oil to Venezuela, a challenge for the United States

Photo provided by the Venezuelan Ministry of Information, showing the Iranian oil tanker "Fortune" docked at the El Palito refinery in Puerto Cabello, in the north of the country, on May 25. Venezuelan Ministry of Popular Power for Communication (MINCI) / AFP

Five Venezuelan military planes flying in formation escort, over the Caribbean Sea, in the United States' private preserve, an Iranian oil tanker who has come to deliver a cargo that Caracas needs most. The image posted on social networks Monday, May 25 is fraught with meaning. Five Iranian oil tankers laden with refined products are expected in Venezuela, as the country faces a severe gas shortage. One of them, the Fortune, arrived at its destination on Monday, marking the first act of an Iranian-Venezuelan operation which, according to its promoters, is supposed to demonstrate the limits of the policy of pressure orchestrated by Washington against them.

Nicolas Maduro's Venezuela has the world's first oil reserves, but its production and refining capacities have been reduced to zero, the country being plagued by insurmountable economic difficulties, a deadly political crisis and the effects of American sanctions that have hit its oil sector since January 2019.

The total cargo to be supplied by Iran is estimated at around 1.5 million barrels, according to the firm TankerTrackers, which specializes in studying global shipping flows. Such a quantity of refined products can only provide limited assistance to Venezuela, whose needs are enormous.

"Two rebellious nations"

In addition to deliveries of refined products, Iran must help Caracas to restore the large Cardon refinery, which is currently in ruins. Several flights by the airline Mahan Air, carrying chemicals and equipment necessary for the resumption of refining activities, have also been recorded between Iran and Venezuela. Mahan Air, considered to be linked to the Revolutionary Guards and accused by the United States Treasury of being a vector of arms transfers between Tehran and its allies in the Middle East, is subject to American sanctions. Iranian technicians have also been dispatched to the site, although their precise role remains unknown.

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Numerous American vessels have been cruising off Venezuela, assisted by surveillance planes, for the past month, as part of an operation supposed to combat drug trafficking from the country to the United States. But, for the time being, they have not intervened. Iranian and Venezuelan diplomats at the United Nations had complained last week of US threats against tankers in the Islamic Republic.

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