A shipment of Iranian fuel is on its way to Venezuela, tracking data showed on Wednesday, despite strong US sanctions against Tehran’s oil exports.
The Iran-flagged medium tanker Clavel had set sail for the crisis-hit South American country, Reuters reported, citing vessel tracking data from analyst Refinitiv Eikon.
The data suggests the tanker loaded fuel at Bandar Abbas port in Iran at the end of March, and passed through the Suez Canal and into the Atlantic on Wednesday at a time of heightened tension between Washington, Tehran and Caracas.
The tanker may be one of several oil shipments that Iran is sending to Venezuela.
Four other vessels of a similar size, sailing under Iranian flags, are following the path from Bandar Abbas to the Atlantic but have not indicated their final destination.
Iran has been helping to restart operations at Venzuela’s 310,000 barrel-per-day Cardon refinery, with several flights carrying vital materials arriving since last month.
Venezuela's refining network has all but collapsed because of under-investment and lack of maintenance in recent years under socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who has overseen an economic disaster.
Last year, the US imposed sanctions on state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela as part of Washington's efforts to remove Mr Maduro.
The US State Department was not immediately available to comment to The National.
Venezuela’s embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for a statement.
The delivery constitutes a double breach of US sanctions on the oil sectors of Iran and Venezuela, which prohibit transactions without certain waivers.
Tension between Washington and Caracas are at an all-time high after Mr Maduro accused the US of attempting “a failed invasion”, after his security foiled a bizarre attempt to overthrow him.
Two US citizens have been arrested and are facing trial for allegedly trying to carry out a coup in the country, but the US administration of President Donald Trump has denied any involvement.
On Wednesday, the US State Department notified Congress that Iran and Venezuela, as well as North Korea, Syria and Cuba, were certified under the Arms Export Control Act as “not co-operating fully” with US counter-terrorism efforts in 2019.
“This is the first year that Cuba has been certified as not fully co-operating since 2015,” it said.
The move blocks the sale or licence for export of defence articles and services to those countries.
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
