An Iranian tanker with more than 2 million barrels of condensate has docked in a Venezuelan port, circumventing the economic blockade imposed on both countries, according to analysts and satellite images released.
El Político
Both Venezuela and Iran are subject to sanctions by the United States. The arrival of the tanker Starla comes as negotiations continue in Vienna between Iran and world powers over the nuclear deal with the Islamic republic, which allows the sale of crude oil.
In 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the pact under President Donald Trump, sparking years of tensions across the Middle East that continues to this day. The Starla reached the coast of Barcelona, Venezuela, at the end of January.
The satellite does not lie
A satellite image from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by the AP agency showed the ship in that location on Sunday and matched other images of the ship and its helipad.
Its dimensions also matched those of the Starla, owned by the National Iranian Tanker Co.
The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the company in October 2020, on the grounds that it helped finance Iran’s Quds Forces, a member of the Revolutionary Guards.
The Starla represents the first known shipment of condensate to arrive this year in Venezuela from Iran as part of a relationship between the two oil-exporting nations.
Iran is silent
The Iranian state press has made no mention of the arrival of the Starla in Venezuela, although on previous occasions it had announced other shipments. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment.
Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, said the ship is carrying 2.1 million barrels of the natural gas-derived light oil that the Venezuelan state oil company uses to dilute its heavy crude and turn it into an export blend.
Madani said the ship left Iran on December 11 and turned off its Automated Identification System for more than a month and a half.
The system is mandatory and is used to avoid crashes, but in recent years various companies have implemented various techniques, including shutting it down, to avoid detection as the United States expands its economic sanctions.
Iran maintains close ties with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and has shipped gasoline and other products to the country during the US sanctions campaign.
Madani said that since 2020, ships have carried condensate from Iran to Venezuela four times, for a total of more than 8.3 million barrels.
Claire Jungman, coordinator of United Against Nuclear Iran, a US-based group that tracks Iran’s hydrocarbon shipments, identified the Starla from satellite images.
Jungman claimed that her organization has recorded an increase in covert sales of Iranian oil to China and Venezuela in an attempt to discover "how far they can take the government of President Joe Biden."
“If the United States is going to continue to turn a blind eye, Iran will continue to delay everything,” she commented Jungman. “They get what they want by not exercising the sanctions.”
