Page 5 - LatAmOil Week 33

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil

Tehran’s reaction the fuel transferred so it could be shipped to
Meanwhile, Iran has criticised the US for the the US, a US government source told the news
seizure. agency on August 13. The warrant only covered
Iran’s envoy to Venezuela Hojjat Soltani the cargoes, not the vessels.
strongly rejected the US statement that it had The four tankers that initially carried the
grabbed the fuel, writing on Twitter: “Another cargoes were the Liberia-flagged Bella, Bering,
lie and psychological war from the Imperialist Pandi and Luna. They are owned and managed
propaganda apparatus of the US. Neither are the by companies controlled by Greece-based firms
tankers Iranian nor do their owner or flags have Vienna LTD and Palermo SA.
anything to do with Iran.” It was not clear whether Washington
Iran’s Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar intended to sanction Vienna LTD and Palermo
Zanganeh confirmed at a briefing on August SA. In July 2019, Hook sent emails to the cap-
17 that the fuel last week seized by the US from tain of a British-flagged oil tanker that was
four Venezuela-bound tankers is Iranian. “The briefly seized by Iran in the Gulf, saying that the
cargoes were loaded from Iran, but neither the Trump administration was offering him several
ships nor the cargoes belonged to Iran, and the million dollars to steer the tanker to a country
US declared victory for itself in the middle of that would impound it on behalf of Washington.
this. The fuel was Iranian, but it had been sold Since then, US officials have warned ship owners “
to Venezuela and its payment had been cleared,” and vessels involved in the trade of crude oil and US officials see
he said. petroleum products between Tehran and Cara-
Although Zanganeh made a point of drawing cas that they could be sanctioned. the seizure as
this distinction, Washington is unlikely to care a successful
who technically owned the fuel at the point of Ongoing tensions
its confiscation. Instead, US officials are likely The US sanctions regime has been one of the disruption of
to see the seizure as a successful disruption of main factors driving the deterioration of Vene-
the emerging strategic alliance between Iran and zuela’s oil industry, as well as the economy. the emerging
Venezuela, two countries the Trump adminis- The South American state has the world’s
tration is attempting to bend to its will with the largest crude reserves, but in recent years pro- strategic alliance
use of crushing sanctions. duction has plummeted and its refineries have between Iran
fallen into disrepair. Analysts have attributed
Outgoing envoy credited that development to mismanagement by Pres- and Venezuela
The US State Department credited its outgoing ident Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government, as
special envoy for Iran for the seizure operation. well as US trade restrictions.
“Our diplomacy, led by Special Representa- There has been some speculation that con-
tive for Iran Brian Hook, was able to both halt ditions might change if Trump seeks to cut a
these shipments and assist the Departments of foreign policy deal with Iran before his bid for
Justice and Homeland Security in executing re-election in November. However, the evidence
a U.S. seizure order,” the department said in a that Washington and Tehran are holding secret
statement. The State Department did not dis- talks to pave the path to that eventuality remains
close what steps Hook, whose resignation was thin.
announced earlier this week, took to secure the Indeed, the Justice Department added that
seizure. Iran’s navy forcibly boarded an unrelated ship in
According to previous reports, though, US the Strait of Hormuz following the seizure of the
prosecutors filed a lawsuit in July to seize the tanker. It also said that the US military’s Central
gasoline aboard the four tankers, and a judge Command had published a video of this inci-
subsequently issued a warrant for seizure. Legal dent on August 13.
sources told Reuters that the cargoes could not This move appears to have been an attempt
be seized until they were in US territorial waters. by Tehran to exert pressure to recover the seized
The owners of the four vessels agreed to have petroleum. ™

Venezuelan naval vessels escorted Iranian fuel tankers to port in May (Photo: teleSUR)

Week 33 19•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P5