Donnerstag, 25.05.2023 / 22:39 Uhr

Geister-Tankschiffe bringen Iran Millionen

Wie der Iran Sanktionen umgeht und seine Kassen füllt:

At least 17 shipments by eight different tankers have delivered more than 16 million barrels of Iranian oil to Syria over the past six months, according to publicly available data. The “ghost tankers” have docked at Syria's Baniyas port south of Latakia violating U.S. sanctions imposed on both the Iranian petroleum industry and on Bashar Assad's government.

After the U.S.' departure from the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement, then-President Donald Trump revived the sanctions on Iran's oil exports. His successor, President Joe Biden, had considered removing the sanctions to smooth the way for rejoining the nuclear accords, but they remain in effect.

The oil and gas industry was a major source of revenue for Syria prior to its civil war that broke out in 2011. Over a decade of fighting reduced production by 95 percent forcing the Assad regime to rely almost entirely on Iranian tankers as a lifeline. However, the imports fall short of Syrian needs with Damascus and other major cities suffering frequent blackouts, which in turn have paralyzed its economy.