Page 8 - IRANRptJun20
P. 8
“Not pleased”
After the first two of five dispatched fuel-laden tankers reached Venezuela—Refinitive Eikon data on May 28 indicated the third had reached its destination and the fourth had entered the waters of the gasoline-starved nation—Kayhan quoted Tehran-based analyst and academic Foad Izadi as saying that Iran’s assistance for the fellow sanctions-hit country marked a defeat for the US and as saying: “For several weeks now, the Americans have been threatening Iran in various ways.... But with the successful arrival of Iranian tankers, the famous saying by [Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini that ‘America can’t do a damn thing’ took on real meaning.”
Meanwhile, reformist Iranian daily Etemad was quoted by Reuters as stating: “Sanctioned countries have started to fight back against bullying on the international scene."
“Tehran is signalling that despite Washington’s [sanctions-led] campaign of 'maximum pressure,' it will not only continue to help its allies but it also has the ability to do so," Sanam Vakil, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House in London, told RFE/RL.
Speaking on May 27, the US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, David Schenker, said Washington was “not pleased” with the shipments and was looking at its options. “These are two pariah states that have horrific human rights abuses,” Schenker said during an online event organised by the Beirut Institute, as reported by Reuters. “One could imagine them sending other things—I mean weapons, who knows?”
The US special representative for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, has said Iran is being paid in bars of gold for assistance in providing the Venezuelan oil industry with components. Additionally, some reports have suggested Iran will be paid around nine tonnes of gold, worth $500mn, for the approximately 1.5mn barrels of gasoline and key chemicals brought by the five tankers.
2.4 Swiss humanitarian channel pegged for use if US drops block on Iran request for IMF funds, but there’s no sign of that
Switzerland’s special financial channel for humanitarian trade with Iran (SHTA) has been earmarked as the route that Tehran would use to secure urgent funding amounting to $5bn from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, President.ir website announced on May 26. However, there is as yet no sign that the US will refrain from using its veto to stop such funding going to the Islamic Republic, despite the difficulties Iran faces in addressing its coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The Swiss channel was created to enable Swiss companies, mostly in the foodstuffs and pharmaceutical sectors, to sell products to Iran without invoking US secondary sanctions directed at those who do business with the Iranians. Food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies are exempt from the sanctions that Washington reimposed after US President Donald Trump walked away from the 2015 nuclear deal—although there have been persistent reports from many quarters that Iranian hospitals and doctors have been left under-supplied because of complications caused by the sanctions, such as in
8 IRAN Country Report June 2020 www.intellinews.com
