In violation of the US sanctions imposed on both Iran and the Assad regime, Tehran has sent more than 17 million barrels of oil to Syria over the past six months, according to a report published by the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz.
8 ghost carriers
The report stated that at least 17 shipments from 8 tankers loaded with more than 16 million barrels of Iranian oil docked at Banias port, south of Latakia.
According to the newspaper, the tankers are called “ghost” because they close their systems to prevent their movement from being monitored, noting that these tankers, most of which sail under the Iranian flag, are (Daran, Sam 121, Lotus, Armaan 114, Shadi, Veronica, Servan Sabo, and Ares).
The smallest of these tankers, “Darran”, has a capacity of 316,308 barrels, while the largest is “Arman 114”, which can carry more than two million barrels.
According to ship tracking data and satellite images, Iranian tankers docked at Mina Banias at least 17 times between November 2022 and last April, and delivered 16.4 million barrels.
According to the data of the “TankerTrackers” website, which tracks crude oil shipments in many important geographical and geopolitical points, there were 20 departures from Iran to Syria, amounting to 17.1 million barrels.
conveyor route
The report pointed out that because of the sanctions, Iran is trying to deliver oil secretly, and the journey requires passing through the Suez Canal, where the transponders of the tankers are operated, so that their speed, direction, draft and cargo weight are determined using the Automatic Identification System (AIS).
Once the Iranian tankers enter the Mediterranean, they turn off their transponders for two to three weeks as they sail north towards Syria.
Tankers can only be tracked via satellites, which show their arrival in Baniyas, unloading oil, and then returning to Suez, where it is revealed that their weight has decreased.
$1.25 billion worth of oil
The report indicated that over the past six months, the price of a barrel of oil ranged between 70 and 80 dollars, estimating the total value of oil that Iran shipped to Syria during this time at about $1.25 billion.
The information mentioned in the report, which the US intelligence services are supposed to have, shows that despite the validity of the US sanctions, Iran continued to send oil to Syria, which raises doubts about the effectiveness of these sanctions on Iranian oil exports, and the Caesar sanctions on the Assad regime.
Former US President Donald Trump restored sanctions on Iranian oil exports after the United States withdrew from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal., While the current US President, Joe Biden, considered removing sanctions to pave the way for joining the nuclear agreements, they are still in effect.
Over the past years, the Assad regime has relied almost entirely on Iranian oil as a lifeline. However, the imports do not meet the needs, as the areas controlled by the Assad militia suffer from multiple crises (fuel, electricity, and the collapse of the currency), which led to a state of economic paralysis.
Billions in debt
Earlier this month, leaked documents published by an Iranian hacker group revealed that the debts of the Assad militia to Iran exceeded $50 billion.
One of the documents includes estimates in October 2021 that the total debts of the Assad militia to Iran amounted to more than $50 billion, including sending more than $11 billion in oil to Syria from 2012 to the end of 2020.
