TEHRAN – The final vessel in a flotilla of three Iranian fuel tankers has entered Venezuela’s waters, as a sign of defiance by Iran and Venezuela against the United States’ sanctions on both countries.

Carrying around 234,000 barrels of fuel, the Faxon was directly north of Venezuela’s northeastern Sucre state as of 9:37 a.m. local time (1:37 p.m. GMT) on Saturday, Reuters reported, citing Refinitiv Eikon data. 

It came a day after the second vessel, the Fortune, docked at western Venezuela’s Amuay port.

The flotilla was the second group of fuel tankers Iran sent to Venezuela this year. Gasoline shortages in Venezuela have led to snaking, sometimes days-long lines outside PDVSA gas stations. 

The previous fuel delivery mission was carried out by five Iranian vessels between May and June. It delivered the equipment that the Latin American country needed to shore up its gasoline industry.

Washington has been pursuing a regime change policy toward Iran and Venezuela. The U.S. has imposed very harsh sanctions on both nations, virtually cutting off their trade ties with the outside world.

Trying to deflect the pressure, Tehran and Caracas have signed agreements in the areas of trade, energy, industrial, defensive, cultural, and educational cooperation.

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif talked with his Venezuelan counterpart Jorge Arreaza on the phone. During the conversation, Arreaza said his country’s “historic” relations with Iran were at their best possible juncture.

The Venezuelan foreign minister said in a tweet that the talks examined “the geopolitical threats” that faced the nations and constituted a menace to peace and multilateralism.

Yahya Rahim-Safavi, a former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), told reporters last week that Iran has helped “every Muslim and non-Muslim country” that asks for assistance.

He said Iran received gold bars in exchange for the gasoline previously delivered to Venezuela, sent by airplane “so that nothing would happen to it.”

Washington has imposed sanctions on state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) as part of its push to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

In May 2018, the U.S. withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and imposed what it called “the harshest ever sanctions” on the Islamic Republic. The sanctions have hurt the most vulnerable classes of the Iranian society.

The U.S. also refused to lift the sanctions even after Iran was harshly hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

MH/PA