[News] Is Iran Sending Gasoline Left Overs to Venezuela and is it Not Affected by US Sanctions as Guaido Claims?

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://orinocotribune.com/is-iran-sending-gasoline-left-overs-to-venezuela-and-is-it-not-affected-by-us-sanctions-as-guaido-claims/
Is
Iran Sending Gasoline Left Overs to Venezuela and is it Not Affected by US
Sanctions as Guaido Claims?
------------------------------

By Mision Verdad – May 24, 2020

Undoubtedly, the shipment of five Iranian tankers loaded with gasoline and
chemical additives to the Venezuelan refineries represents the most
relevant event so far this year in the South American country.

The staggered path and arrival of these five ships has a remarkable
geopolitical implication: cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran
and Venezuela on oil has challenged the US embargo and has placed the Trump
Administration in a difficult position to defend in public opinion his
“maximum pressure” campaign which includes the use of aggressive economic
sanctions with the purpose of stifling the social life of the Venezuelan
and Iranian populations.

Tension was the common attribute of this week, and as ships neared the
Caribbean Sea, speculation grew as to whether the United States would
directly retaliate against the ships, as a US official had already told
*Reuters* on condition of anonymity.

However, until the last ship arrives and unloads its contents in Venezuelan
territory, it cannot be safely stated that Washington will not take any
action, taking advantage of the Air
<https://elpitazo.net/internacional/fuerzas-navales-de-ee-uu-despliegan-buque-uss-detroit-en-el-caribe/>
Command deployment
<https://elpitazo.net/internacional/fuerzas-navales-de-ee-uu-despliegan-buque-uss-detroit-en-el-caribe/>
in the Caribbean Sea of the Southern Command ordered by Trump in the
framework of an alleged anti-narcotics operation in early April.

>From different main stream media outlets, information began to emerge that
indicated that actions could be taken
<https://www.voanoticias.com/venezuela/eeuu-dice-opciones-llegada-tanqueros-iranies-venezuela>
to interfere with the destination of the tankers, given that both countries
are subject to illegal sanctions that have tried to hinder the marketing of
their oil products.

RELATED CONTENT: Do You Want Gasoline Now?
<https://orinocotribune.com/do-you-want-gasoline-now/>
[image: Is Iran Sending Gasoline Left Overs to Venezuela and is it Not
Affected by US Sanctions as Guaido Claims?]The Iranian ship Fortune is
escorted by the patrol vessel PO-13 AB Yekuana of the Venezuelan Navy.
Photo: Ceofanb

At the United Nations, Iran and Venezuela warned of this possibility and
the implications it would have. The Venezuelan Navy and Aviation announced
that they would escort the ships to guarantee their safe access to the
country’s territorial waters.

The vessel the Fortune, the first of five tankers that have traveled more
than 12,000 kilometers, has already entered Venezuela
<https://twitter.com/Eiranencaracas/status/1264594880317325314> and is
heading to the El Palito refinery, located in the central region of
Venezuela. The rest of the flotilla sent from the Persian country is
expected to enter the country in the next few hours and days.
[image: Is Iran Sending Gasoline Left Overs to Venezuela and is it Not
Affected by US Sanctions as Guaido Claims?]The Iranian ship Fortune is
escorted by the patrol vessel PO-13 AB Yekuana of the Venezuelan Navy.
Photo: Ceofanb

The issue of Iranian ships positioned itself at the center of the political
and media agenda, drawing reactions of all kinds.

As is already a custom, the extremist wing of anti-Chavismo represented by
the deputy Juan Guaidó questioned the shipment of gasoline and stressed its
blind support for the campaign of “maximum pressure” in Washington that has
caused the gasoline shortage in the country, affecting the transportation
of food, medicine and Covid-19 patients.

Juan Guaidó issued a statement to align his story and warm up his fans.
With the usual juggling, the statement demonized Iran (linking it without
evidence to “international terrorism”) and underestimated the damaging
power of illegal sanctions against the Persian country.

In Guaidó’s logic, the shipment of gasoline from Iran “demonstrated” that
the sanctions do not have a negative impact on the oil activities of both
countries. This was a new attempt to blame the current management of fuel
shortages on the Venezuelan government.

The text suggests that Iran has plenty of gasoline and that Washington
sanctions have not affected its oil production and refining activities.

However, this narrative driven by Guaidó does not survive a fact check. He
lies, again, with the purpose of laundering the negative effects that the
escalation of the sanctions have brought, under his imaginary presidency.

Iran has been the victim of sanctions since 1979, with some periods of
relaxation and tightening as the Western geopolitical agenda has advanced
to destroy the regional leadership of the Persian nation.

RELATED CONTENT: Photo Gallery: El Aissami Received Iranian Tanker
“Fortune” in “El Palito” Refinery
<https://orinocotribune.com/photo-gallery-el-aissami-received-iranian-tanker-fortune-in-el-palito-refinery/>

In 2009, with Venezuelan cooperation in oil matters promoted by President
Hugo Chávez, Venezuela agreed to the daily shipment of 20 thousand barrels
of gasoline
<https://amp.20minutos.es/noticia/511602/0/gasolina/iran/venezuela/>, due
to the weakened refining capacity of the Islamic Republic.
[image: Is Iran Sending Gasoline Left Overs to Venezuela and is it Not
Affected by US Sanctions as Guaido Claims?]Mahmud Ahmadineyad and Hugo
Chávez during an official meeting in Tehran: Archive

This would be a conjunctural support as Iran searched for alternatives to
increase its fuel production capacity due to sanctions against the Mahmud
Ahmadinejad government.

At the time, Iran imported 40% of the gasoline it consumed.

>From that year to the present the situation has not changed so much. The
sanctions tightened during the Trump Administration have hurt the Iranian
oil industry substantially.

10 days ago, a report
<https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/US-Sanctions-Have-Crippled-Iranian-Oil-Production.html>
by the consultants at *Oil Price*, indicated that “Due to the sanctions, at
least a quarter of the oil platforms, or 40 out of 160, in Iran are now out
of service, either inactive or under repair, according to *Reuters*, citing
financial documents and industry sources.”

“The US sanctions on Iran’s oil sector are impacting the Islamic Republic’s
ability to potentially increase production in the long term,” concludes *Oil
Price*.

Washington’s measures have caused Iran’s oil production to drop 12% so far
this year,
<https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/iranian-oil-production-down-by-12/story-ec2pzV8YWIvbx7yX1nbX4O.html>
while the country’s authorities expect this figure to drop much more by the
end of the year. This would be the most aggressive drop
<https://www.iranfocus.com/en/economy/34437-iran-s-oil-production-down-52-000-bpd-in-one-month>
since the war with Iraq in the 1980s.

As oil production has fallen, so has gasoline refining. At the end of last
year, Iran set a 60-liter limit
<https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-imposes-gasoline-rationing-raises-fuel-prices-us-sanctions/30272889.html>
on gasoline consumption for each vehicle, with the aim of rationing the
fuel. The year 2019 was marked by the lines for gasoline in the Persian
country, a fact that evidence the negative effects of US sanctions.
[image: Is Iran Sending Gasoline Left Overs to Venezuela and is it Not
Affected by US Sanctions as Guaido Claims?]Iran’s refineries have been
affected by the sanctions, recalling their ability to produce fuel. Photo:
The Fuse

A European media outlet reported at the end of last year that the country
“has enormous energy reserves, but is struggling to meet its national fuel
needs due to a lack of refining capacity. International sanctions add to
the problem by limiting the supply of spare parts to repair and improve
facilities.”

The government was also forced to increase the price of gasoline
<https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/podcasts/focus/051920-back-in-black-oil-opec-recovery-coronavirus>
as a measure to relax domestic consumption and keep up production in its
refining sector affected by the sanctions.

In this sense, Iran does not have plenty of gasoline to send to Venezuela
and its fuel exports to neighboring countries (Iraq and Afghanistan) can be
counted on one hand. The ships sent to Venezuela represent a titanic effort
for the Persian nation.

US sanctions have affected Iran’s refineries and oil production, as has
happened in Venezuela in recent years.

Guaidó’s attempt to launder Washington’s sanctions is based on a lie. Again.

*Featured image: Photo: The Australian*

Source URL: Mision Verdad
<https://medium.com/@misionverdad2012/a-ir%C3%A1n-le-sobra-la-gasolina-que-env%C3%ADa-a-venezuela-y-no-le-afectan-las-sanciones-como-afirma-c84a615d9b78>

Translated by JRE/EF
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