Hezbollah says Iran fuel tanker to sail to Lebanon

AFP | Lebanon

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah said yesterday a tanker would set off from Iran “within hours” to bring desperately needed fuel supplies to Lebanon, in defiance of US sanctions. Many questions remain about how the shipment would reach its stated destination, where acute and growing fuel shortages have forced hospitals, businesses and government offices shut amid a crippling economic crisis.

But the move, prohibited by US sanctions on Iran’s oil industry, could drag Lebanon into the covert naval war between Tehran and Israel. Nasrallah dared Iran’s foes to stop the shipment.

“The vessel, from the moment it sails in the coming hours until it enters (Mediterranean) waters, will be considered Lebanese territory,” he said during a televised speech to mark the Shiite Muslim commemoration of Ashura.

“To the Americans and Israelis, I say: it’s Lebanese territory.” He said a first ship would bring fuel for “hospitals, manufacturers of medicine and food, as well as bakeries and private generators.” He said more vessels would follow to address shortages that have ground Lebanon to a halt. Neither the Iranian nor the Lebanese governments have confirmed the paramilitary organisation’s claim.

Nasrallah did not specify where or how the shipment would reach Lebanon and be offloaded. Lebanese energy expert Laury Haytayan said major questions hung over the shipment, including the amount to be delivered, who would pay, where the boat would dock and whether the details of the transaction had been disclosed to the Lebanese government.

“It is a possibility that these tankers will go to Syria and shipments will be refined there,” Haytayan said. “But this is all prohibited by sanctions, its not that easy, and since Hezbollah is doing it in public, there is a lot of danger on Lebanon, we are in danger of being sanctioned, or being attacked.”

Since February this year, Iran and Israel have been engaged in a “shadow war” in which vessels linked to each nation have come under attack in waters around the Gulf in tit-for-tat exchanges. Former prime minister Saad Hariri warned yesterday that Nasrallah’s remarks could be “dangerous.”

“Iranian vessels will carry additional dangers and sanctions for the Lebanese,” he said in a statement released by his office. Lebanon is grappling with an economic crisis branded by the World Bank as one of the planet’s worse since the mid-19th century