US Threats Disrupt Iran’s Fuel Deliveries to Venezuela

US warns other countries not to aid fuel shipments

After several days of gasoline deliveries from Iran to Venezuela, the Trump Administration has declared the process “disrupted” by their latest threats to sanction the individual boats for carrying the gasoline. The final deliveries have ultimately not happened.

The issue is that the ships are Greek-owned, and banking sanctions could be problematic for them. It is interesting that the US did not take this tack sooner, as they were complaining about the shipments all week, but most of the gasoline was already delivered.

For most of the week, the US indicated they were going to do something more aggressive, and emphasized sending ships into the Caribbean. So far, the US ships haven’t done anything.

On top of that, the US envoy Elliott Abrams has issued a new statement warning all nations in the world that allowing Iran to sell gasoline to Venezuela is a “very dangerous transaction to assist.” The US had already sanctioned a Chinese company over allegations they were helping an airline involved in transporting gold to Iran.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.