Millions of barrels of crude oil are on their way to Syria from Iran, violating US sanctions.
According to a civilian naval intelligence company, there are four ships with more than 3 million barrels combined on their way to the Baniyas oil refinery, near the Mediterranean coast.
A satellite photo captured two days ago in the southern section of the Red Sea shows four ships: Arman 114, Sam 121, Daran and Romina.
The Arman 114 is formerly known as Adrian Darya 1, a ship at the center of the U.S.-Iran stalemate in the summer of 2019. It was sanctioned by the Trump government in August 2019, after its attempts to transfer oil to Syria.
ISRAEL PROBLEM FOR AMERICAN POSITION IN RELATION TO IRAN: REPORT
Syria is fighting oil shortages, relying mainly on Iranian aid. However, with heavy sanctions on both countries, the shortage has turned into a crisis, causing power outages and gasoline rationing.
As soon as the ships arrive, analysts believe they will supply Syria with enough oil for three weeks.
“Currently, one of the four Iranian tankers has crossed the Suez Canal carrying crude oil to the Syrian refinery in Baniyas,” Samer Madani, co-founder of Tanker Trackers, told Fox News. Romina turned off its AIS, a familiar move by Iranian oil tankers to avoid tracking.
SYRIA IS ‘ONE OF THE BIGGEST HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHES’, SAYS THE HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER
“Only the first 900,000 barrels are now in the Mediterranean and can reach Syria by Wednesday at the latest. Recent delays in the Suez Canal due to EVER GIVEN, as well as today’s accident, have aggravated the crisis for a population of 17 million, “Madani said.
ARCHIVE – An Iranian flag flies aboard oil tanker Adrian Darya, formerly known as Grace 1, off the coast of Gibraltar on August 18, 2019. (Photo by JOHNNY BUGEJA / AFP via Getty Images)
Saeed Khatibzadeh, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, told reporters at his weekly news conference on April 5 that Iran has already managed to sell crude oil, defying sanctions. “As for resuming Iran’s participation in the oil market, we never expected it, and you can see that in official and unofficial statistics,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
Iranian Press TV reported on Monday, according to an unidentified source, that Iran will agree to return to commitments under the nuclear deal only if the United States removes all sanctions imposed on it.
“Iran will begin its measures to return to JCPOA commitments only after removing all U.S. sanctions and verifying them,” the report said.
Negotiations resumed on Tuesday in Vienna.