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How Iran Smuggles Fuel with Secret Nighttime Transfers

(Washington Post) Katie McQue - The secret transfers usually take place at night to evade detection. Tankers anchor in the Persian Gulf just outside the territorial limits of the United Arab Emirates, and then small fishing boats carrying smuggled Iranian diesel shift their loads to the waiting vessels over four to five days, said an Indian seafarer employed by a Dubai-based shipping company that smuggled Iranian fuel to Somalia. In addition, tankers set sail from Iran with the origin of the shipment forged to make it look as though it came from Iraq or the UAE. The smuggling involves Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and private shipping companies based in Persian Gulf countries. At times, the IRGC seeks to interdict those who try to secure a piece of its action without the group's permission. "If we look at the quantities that are being smuggled each year from Iran, we're talking millions of barrels," said Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King's College London. "A lot of people are being paid off. The IRGC is a highly corrupt institution."
2022-01-06 00:00:00
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