Oil tankers for Lebanon were escorted by Iranian Navy - commander

• Published date: 11 October 2021
• Author: TZVI JOFFRE
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Irani additionally claimed that Iranian naval fleets escort ships to the mouth of the Suez Canal, with two destroyers stationed in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

After a fuel tank exploded in northern Lebanon in August, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah announced that Iranian oil would be shipped to Lebanon, even without the coordination of the Lebanese government.

Three ships of Iranian oil have so far reached the Baniyas port in Syria and been transferred by truck to Lebanon.

Nasrallah warned before the first ship departed Iran that "from the moment the Iranian ship sails, [Hezbollah] will consider it Lebanese territory."

After the first tanker arrived in Syria, Nasrallah stressed that the ships safely arrived, despite concerns by some that Israel would not allow the oil to reach Lebanon. "Some bet that Israel would not allow the ships to reach Lebanon, but they missed that the Israeli was in trouble," said Nasrallah. "The existing deterrence equation in Lebanon and the introduction of ships to Lebanon within this equation allowed the arrival of the first ship and the incoming ships as well."

Nasrallah's initial announcement in August came as tensions ran high between Israel and Iran after an...