Page 47 - IRANRptNov20

Iran tweaks Washington’s nose with further fuel deliveries to Venezuela
Iran and Russia agree to build up ro-ro and refrigerated cargo ship fleets for Caspian Sea trade
measures had been taken to prevent an interruption in the “organisations’ missions”, without giving further details.
Central Bank of Iran (CBI) governor Abdolnasser Hemmati, meanwhile, this week said that cyberattacks and other pressure on Iran will continue to be cranked up in the run-up to the November 3 US presidential election.
Iran continues to tweak the nose of Washington with the delivery of fuel to gasoline-starved Venezuela. The final tanker in a flotilla of three Iranian fuel tankers docked at eastern Venezuela’s port of Guaraguao on October 4, ​according to Refinitiv Eikon data and a person familiar with the matter cited by Reuters.
The economy of Venezuela, like that of Iran, is under immense strain because of US sanctions. By working together, Caracas and Tehran can jointly undermine the heavy sanctions policy directed at both countries by the Donald Trump White House. It is thought that Venezuela is paying for the fuel deliveries with gold.
The three tankers, which began arriving last week, have delivered some 820,000 barrels of fuel to the South American country, where severe shortages of gasoline ​–​ as well as unreliable power, water and cooking gas supplies ​– ​have led to a wave of protests in the neglected interior in recent weeks.
“Tomorrow, October 5, the plan to normalise and restart the gasoline distribution situation begins,” Maduro said in a state television address. “We have in the last week managed to produce the gasoline and other products Venezuela needs, in addition to the good quantity of gasoline that has arrived from abroad.”
Iran has also delivered products to Venezuela that are helping the latter to restart its sanctions-hit refineries.
Iran and Russia have agreed to strengthen their refrigerated transport fleets and Roll-on/Roll-off (ro-ro) ship capacities that are vital to trade flows moving along the north-south corridor linking the two countries via the Caspian Sea, an Iranian official has announced.
The agreement was announced by the director-general of the transit and logistics department of the Iranian Organisation of Ports and Navigation, Khosro Saraei, although no precise details of what the strengthening would involve were provided.
Iran-Russia trade has increased significantly since a temporary two-year preferential trade agreement (PTA) between the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and Iran went into effect in October last year.
"As was mentioned during a [video-conferenced] meeting [of Iranian and Russian officials], the main problem of transit across the Caspian Sea is the need for the creation of logistics bases for transport and one of our main goals in terms of the ports, in particular the northern ports of Iran, is changing the business model [to achieve those logistics aims]. We are also looking to create the possibility of using reefer container ships, " Saraei said.
A reefer ship is a refrigerated cargo vessel that carries perishable products. Saraei also said that the ports of Anzali and Amirabad were the most active ports in Iran’s north for loading and unloading.
47​ IRAN Country Report November 2020 www.intellinews.com