Iran Sends Biggest Ever Fleet of Oil Tankers to Venezuela - Report
By Staff, Agencies
Iran is sending its biggest fleet yet of tankers to Venezuela in defiance of US sanctions to help the isolated nation withstand a crippling fuel shortage, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Some of the flotillas of about 10 Iranian vessels will also help export Venezuelan crude after discharging fuel, the source said, asking not to be named because the transaction is not public.
The Latin American nation is widening its reliance on Iran as an ally of last resort after even Russia and China have avoided challenging the US ban on trade with Venezuela.
The country that was once a top supplier of crude to the US and boasted one of the lowest domestic gasoline prices in the world, now can barely produce any fuel due to the US sanctions.
The last Iranian fuel shipments sent in early October on three vessels are running out, threatening steeper nationwide shortages with hours-long queues at gas stations.
The current fleet under sail is about double the size of the one that first startled international observers in May, crossing a Caribbean Sea patrolled by the US Navy, to be greeted by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro himself upon arrival.
