China uses

A News themezone investigation has revealed that China is still secretly buying Iranian oil and evades the sanctions of the United States by using what is known as a “dark fleet” to transfer the oil of the ship to the ship in the middle of the sea.

Over the years, the United States has implemented strong sanctions to Iranian industries, including the attempt to arrest the oil tankers used to transfer Iranian oil to China, which could help finance Iranian nuclear development programs. On Wednesday, the Treasury Department imposed additional sanctions, which Washington called the most extensive action of its kind since 2018.

Recently, a News themezone team left Singapore, one of the most active shipping ports in the world, to direct more than 80 nautical miles in international waters to see how the “dark fleet” works.

“As long as there is an offer, there will be a demand for this discount oil,” said Charlie Brown, a former US Navy officer.

The supply is Iran, the demand is China, and this mutually beneficial relationship, which has long angered the United States, plays on the Costa de Malaysia in the Riau archipelago, an area of the size of the New York city.

“This is the ‘Dark Fleet’ Central Parking,” said Brown, who has been monitoring the “dark fleet” for years.

He described a ship, the Tifani, as “a well -known ‘Dark Fleet’ oil company who has always been here on a regular basis.”

The oil tankers, full of oil, navigate from the Persian Gulf through the Malacca Strait to the Riau archipelago. There, they transfer the crude to the ships to China, which buys 90% of Iran’s oil.

During the News themezone team trip, four ship transfers were produced.

These “dark fleet” tankers, all with their transponders off, clearly do not want to be identified.

“Both ships have a network or something, a canvas, deployed on the stern, covering the name and identification number, it is an obvious misleading practice,” Brown said.

A subsequent analysis revealed that a ship was the elusive stellar oracle, loaded with Iranian oil. It was placed on the US sanctions list. In May.

Near, another shipping ship transfer was underway with the Alps, not its real name, full of Iranian crude that was also sanctioned in May. The Eon receiver container, which is not in any list, was caught in the spot: a new sanctions offender.

According to a congress report last year, this trade generated up to $ 70 billion for Iran, underpinning the regime and its nuclear weapons program. The Trump administration has imposed multiple rounds of sanctions on this trade this year, but has little effect. China does not recognize the unilateral sanctions of the United States against Iran and says that its trade with Iran is legitimate.

At the end of the day, 12 ship transfers were recorded in the Riau archipelago, an unprecedented number and a clear indication of Iran and China are only increasing this illicit activity.

• Sanctions
• Iran
• Porcelain