In recent weeks, Iran and China have pitched in with spare parts, inputs such as catalyst and expertise to help PdV to repair key units of its 305,000 b/d Cardon and 140,000 b/d El Palito refineries. The Iranian-flagged Clavel, the last of the five Iranian tankers, arrived yesterday at the El Palito terminal and started unloading over 300,000 bl of gasoline early today, an oil union official at the refinery in Carabobo state tells Argus.

On Saturday, AP News reported that the first of 5 Iranian oil tankers “reache(d) Venezuelan waters with no sign of (a) US threat.” Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza tweeted the news, saying: “Today, the first ship with gasoline arrives for our people.” According to maritime tanker tracking information, the last of 5 Iranian tankers en route to Venezuela is about three days from entering its waters as of Sunday. In its latest edition, the Washington Post cited unnamed analysts, saying that 5 Iranian tankers carry an estimated 60 million gallons of gasoline, adding: The Trump regime “invoked the (long ago outdated) Monroe Doctrine” that rejects foreign interference in the Western hemisphere. It’s a footnote in the dustbin of history where it belongs. The US interferes regularly in parts of the world not its own by endless preemptive wars and other hostile actions — the highest of high crimes under international and constitutional law.

Iran provides Iraq with around 1,200 megawatts of electricity per day, and 40 million cubic meters of gas. On Dec. 9, Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said his country had signed a three-year cooperation agreement with Iraq for extending Iranian energy exports. On Nov. 9, Ardakanian had announced that the power grids of Iran and Syria were to be connected through Iraq, as Tehran and Damascus signed a preliminary agreement in this regard. From an Iranian perspective, exporting electricity to surrounding countries, including Turkey, is part of Tehran's efforts to widen its financial resources; however, from US President Donald Trump’s point of view, this is an attempt to get around the sanctions imposed by Washington under the “maximum pressure” strategy that aims at drying up all sources of funds that might reach Iran. 

Whatever pain COVID-19 inflicts, it offers a golden opportunity for Washington lobbyists committed to tough sanctions against Iran. ‘Regime change’ or ‘regime collapse’, they say, is now within grasp if only the United States stands firm. United States sanctions have not just spawned a proliferating industry profiting lawyers, bureaucrats and “expert” consultants. They have created an opaque maze around which “bullet points” bounce from lobby groups and “think tanks” to the media to government, becoming “facts” through repetition and circular sourcing. Leading the Iran intervention lobby is the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Its CEO Mark Dubowitz is tireless on Twitter and in the media. As the pandemic helps blur any line between opinion and facts, FDD can more easily market its paid advocates as “experts” purportedly moved solely by evidence. On April 5, FDD published a “research memo” entitled “Should the United States Lift Sanctions on Iran to Address Its Coronavirus Outbreak?” The answer, unsurprisingly, was no.