Methods to evade sanctions... Iran has transferred 38 million barrels of oil to Syria in 2023
ARK News… Local media sources documented the arrival of tens of millions of barrels of oil from Iran to Syria during the past two years, using illegal methods in order to evade imposed Western sanctions.
The Voice of the Capital website said that the quantities of oil that Iran transferred to Syria during the past year 2023 amounted to 37 million and 872 thousand barrels of oil, an increase of 6 million and 540 thousand barrels over the year 2022.
According to the website, the Iranian tanker LOTUS topped the list of oil tankers that reached the Syrian coast, with 18 million barrels, followed by the tanker Romina in second place, as it transported more than 10 million barrels of oil during the past three years, despite American and Western sanctions.
Other tankers, including Veronica, Shadi, Sam-121, Lana, Arman-114, and Jasmin, conducted Iranian oil transportation operations in camouflage modes and sailing in stealth mode to transport millions of barrels of oil and gas.
The source explained, "Iran has followed methods to evade the sanctions, by sending empty and full tankers simultaneously, while turning off marine tracking devices specifically during before or after crossing the Suez Canal, to eventually appear on satellite images unloading their cargo at the Baniyas oil terminal."
Iran took advantage of the multiple ownership of oil tankers for the purpose of evading sanctions, and resorted to the method of replacing the flag raised on the tanker each time, to raise the flag of the country of one of the companies contributing to the ownership of the tanker, such as the state of Panama, which owns more than 40% of the tanker balance, in addition to other countries other than covered by any US or European sanctions.
The Voice of the Capital indicated that Iran is expected to increase the quantities of oil exported to Syria during the year 2024, “in accordance with the agreement concluded between Bashar al-Assad and Ibrahim Raisi during the latter’s visit to Syria last May.”
The agreement stipulated the supply of 3 million barrels of crude oil to Syria per month, on the condition that a quantity of the production be exported after being refined in the Homs refinery to the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
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