Hezbollah reveals Iranian petroleum will reach Lebanon despite breach of US sanctions

The first tanker transporting Iranian petroleum to Lebanon arrived at a Syrian port, said Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Hezbollah group on Monday, September 13. He further added that the diesel will be delivered to Lebanon later this week by tanker trucks, reported The Associated Press (AP).

The tanker's arrival comes about a month after Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced that the group would begin transporting fuel from Iran in a bid to alleviate Lebanon's debilitating fuel crisis, which has lasted for months. Nasrallah stated that the group chose a Syrian port for the ship to dock in order to avoid insulting the Lebanese state and incurring sanctions.

However, the delivery, orchestrated by an Iran-backed entity, is in violation of US sanctions imposed on Tehran after former President Donald Trump withdrew the US from a nuclear deal between Iran and other world powers in 2018, reported The AP. 

It is worth mentioning here that the Iranian tanker supplying petroleum to Lebanon arrived just days after a new government was formed, breaking a 13-month standoff. Najib Mikati, Lebanon's new Prime Minister, has remained coy on the Iranian gasoline agreement.

After taking charge as the country's PM last week, he had vowed to do everything to bring the country's disastrous economic situation on track. The ship arrived in the Syrian port of Banias on Sunday, September 12, according to Nasrallah, and the process of offloading the fuel began on the same day. He went on to say that the Syrian government has dispatched dozens of tanker trucks to transfer the diesel to Baalbek in eastern Lebanon by Thursday, September 16. 

Hezbollah to supply fuel to gas stations linked to the group in Lebanon

Nasrallah further stated that diesel would be given to institutions such as public hospitals, elderly homes, orphanages, water stations, and the Lebanese Red Cross for a month. He said that private hospitals, pharmaceutical and serum industries, bakeries, and food cooperatives will benefit from low-cost fuel, adding that Hezbollah will supply fuel to gas stations linked to the group across the country.

“We are not in competition with the state but we want to increase the flow of fuel in the market," he said, as reported by The AP. It should be noted here that the new government led by Prime Minister Mikati is also expected to undertake critically needed reforms as the country's foreign reserves have been running dangerously low.

(With AP inputs)

Image: AP