First Iranian Oil Tanker Reaches Venezuela to Assist Maduro
HAVANA TIMES – The first of five Iranian oil tankers headed to Venezuela has arrived, Iranian officials confirmed early Sunday, amid tension over the possibility the United States could attempt to halt the deliveries, reported dpa news.
“The first Iranian tanker has reached Venezuela’s coasts. Thanks to the [Venezuelan] Bolivarian armed forces for escorting them,” the Iranian embassy in Venezuela tweeted.
Iranian President Hassan Rowhani had on Saturday warned the United States against launching attacks on the country’s oil tankers as they pass through the Caribbean Sea on their way to Venezuela.
“If the Americans cause problems for our oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea, we will also cause problems for them,” Rowhani said in a telephone call with Qatar’s Emir, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
Rowhani stressed that Iran does not want a new conflict with the US, but that the country would reserve the right to defend its interests.
“We therefore hope that the Americans will not make a mistake in this regard,” said the president, according to comments published on his office’s web portal.
The warning comes in the midst of a spat about Iranian fuel shipments to Venezuela. Five Iranian oil tankers are currently on course to Venezuela and are due arrive in late May or early June.
The US has imposed tough economic sanctions on both Iran and Venezuela and could decide to send its navy to prevent the tankers reaching their destination.
In a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif warned that any US attack would be “illegal and a form of piracy.”
Iran has had close ties to Venezuela for many years.
do not fool us. that tanker does not have a drop of cargo aboard. give us some real news.
Your second sentence is revealing Bob. How should the US have prevented “it’s perceived world position degrade” when under constant criticism by others? if it was a totalitarian state like Cuba, I guess it could try by using censorship, but where there is freedom of speech, it is defenseless, is it not? That is the problem for democracy!
I find it tragic that we have evolved to the point where some people actually believe the US might use military power to stop foreign commercial vessels in international waters. Shame on the US for letting it’s perceived world position degrade to the point that some would consider this possible. Shame of those holding those views because of their lack of knowledge of political reality and history.
The closest the US ever came to this was less than a month during the 1962 missile crisis when the US Navy did stop ships just outside Cuban waters to insure they were carrying no more Soviet nuclear missiles. All ships were then allowed to enter Cuba. A far cry from an Iranian oil tanker destined to Venezuela.
There is no strategic reason for the US to prevent, by military means, an Iranian tanker from delivering crude oil to Venezuela. On the contrary, any amount of free or below market-priced Iranian oil delivered to Venezuela is less market-priced oil Iran can sell on the open market. That means less revenue that the Iranian government can use to fund terrorism around the world.
Curt your comment that the US ought not to have power in international waters, would obviously have to apply to others and would make a cat laugh. So the world’s navies would all have to return to territorial waters. Don’t bother endeavoring to put words in my mouth or in my pen, I did not say that the US had the right to intervene with the tankers taking oil all the way from Iran to Venezuela – which is self-evidently ridiculous when the latter has the largest reserves in the world.
The difficulty with oil, is the displayed incompetence of Maduro, which isn’t surprising as he practices the economics that he learned at the knee of Fidel Castro. The consequences have been mass emigration – even the UN lists some 3.6 million in five years. But perhaps Curt you choose to close your eyes and remain ignorant about reality!
When not in Cuba, I eat quite well, no indigestion, no sickness and no “spewing”. When in Cuba, thanks to my wife and family, we manage to get sufficient to eat, but for example, from December through to March, are unable to get tomatoes, just a reflection of communist agricultural incompetence. So, we are for that period dependent upon canned tomatoes from Spain and the US – no doubt you are aware that Cuba obtains much of its food supply from the US? But I thank you for your concern!
What reason does the US government have to retaliate? Or are you just spewing ignorance?
I note with both interest and a degree of amusement Curt your comment that the US ought not to have power in international waters.
Would you apply the same restrictions to the Russian Federation and China? Similarly, do you condemn the Chinese endeavors to control the South China Sea – much to the irritation of Vietnam?
We should retaliate by SINKING all of those tankers when they are on their way home having discharged their oil !! .. !!
Excellent comments !! .. .. !!
Humanitarian Aid ??? .. ???
I’m glad the oil from Iran made it to Venezuela without US interference. The U.S shouldn’t have power in international waters. The sanctions only hurt the people, not the Venezuelan government. If the US does piracy in the high seas, I hope those affected countries would retaliate.
It is to be hoped that the tanker shown is not one of those taking oil from Iran to Venezuela – the plimsoll line indicates it being empty.
There is in the UK (check with Nick) an old expression: “Taking coals to Newcastle”. That was the definition of the unnecessary, as the Newcastle area produced lots of coal. But, imagine taking oil from Iran to Venezuela which has the highest oil reserves in the world. Alice remains in Wonderland! That is confirmed in the pious hope that Maduro is capable of getting his Bolivarian paradise moving again.
Rowhani obviously has his fingers crossed, actually hoping that the US will intervene.
Lets hope this humanitarian aid- oil for Venezuela -does not become another flash point for hostilities.