Iran tankers suspected in Venezuela amid gas shortages

Gas shortages have returned to Venezuela sparking mile-long lines in the capital as concerns mounted Tuesday that Iran yet again may be trying to come to the Caribbean nation's rescue.

Three Iranian tankers that delivered gasoline to Venezuela earlier this year have turned off their location tracking devices for over a week, raising suspicions among global ship trackers.

Iran uses cloaking to evade detection by the United States, which seeks to block shipments to Venezuela in a campaign aimed at forcing socialist President Nicolás Maduro from power.

Samir Madani, a co-founder of the independent oil tracking firm TankerTrackers.com, said it's possible that the three ships could make the entire journey to Venezuela with their transponders off.

Madani reported their destination to Venezuela earlier this year before officials publicly confirmed it.

Venezuela holds the world's largest oil reserves, yet it is unable to refine enough crude to meet its domestic needs.

Maduro's government blames crippling U.S. sanctions, while critics say two decades of corruption and mismanagement under socialist rule have left the nation once-thriving oil industry in ruins.

It's unclear whether Iran is attempting to send gasoline in its ships — the Forest, Fortune and Faxon.

The Iranian Embassy in Caracas did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press.

If so, this would be the third time this year that Iran has sent fuel shipments to Venezuela in a partnership between the two nations that are both targeted by the United States as having authoritarian regimes.

However, Venezuelans are again scrambling to fill up, even in the capital of Caracas — normally immune to shortages felt across the nation.

Many pumps in Caracas are shut off and others offering fuel have lines that run over a mile.

Taxi driver Miguel Veliz, stuck in a long gas line in Caracas, said Tuesday that he didn't care where the gasoline comes from.

He just wants to get back to work so he can earn a living.

Veliz, 51, said that starting Friday he had spent a total of more than 15 hours waiting for three gas stations.

Twice he was turned away, and on Tuesday he hoped he'd fill up before his fuel gauge hits empty.

"We'll see if I catch a bit of good luck today," he said. "What can I tell you? This is chaos."