Parisa Hafezi News

Chinese officials have asked their Iranian counterparts to help rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing, four Iranian sources and a diplomat familiar with the matter said.The discussions about the attacks and trade between China and Iran took place at several recent meetings in Beijing and Tehran, the Iranian sources said, declining to provide details about when they took place or who attended."Basically, China says: 'If our interests are harmed in any way, it will impact our business with Tehran.

Iran seized a tanker with Iraqi crude destined for Turkey on Thursday in retaliation for the confiscation last year of the same vessel and its oil by the U.S., Iranian state media reported, a move likely to stoke regional tensions.The seizure of the Marshall Islands-flagged St Nikolas coincides with weeks of attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militias targeting Red Sea shipping routes."After the theft of Iranian oil by the United States last year, St Nikolas tanker was seized by Iran's Navy this morning with a judicial order ...

An oil tanker caught up in a dispute last year between the United States and Iran was boarded by armed individuals off the coast of Oman on Thursday and appeared to have changed course towards Iran, according to UK maritime sources.The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker St Nikolas was boarded by armed intruders as it sailed close to the Omani city of Sohar, according to British maritime security firm Ambrey, and its AIS tracking system was turned off as it headed in the direction…

A Panama-flagged tanker called White Pearl has caught fire near Assaluyeh on Iran's Gulf coast, Iranian state media reported on Thursday, adding that all crew members were safe."Twenty-two of the ship's crew have been rescued by Iranian rescue teams after the ship's captain requested assistance from the port authorities," state TV quoted a local ports official as saying. The official said that the tanker, carrying 40,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas, had experienced "a problem in the engine room due to a fire."Panama's vessel registry…

A cargo of sanctioned Iranian crude oil that was confiscated by the U.S. has sat off the Texas coast for eight weeks, unable to unload because commercial agents fear any vessel that takes it will be shunned by customers, people familiar with the matter said.Suez Rajan, a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, has been anchored off Galveston, about 50 miles (80 km) outside of Houston, since May 30, with ship agents refusing to accept it. The Suezmax requires a lightering agent to transfer the crude to smaller ships, as its size and weight restrict it from directly entering the port.Shipping companies are worried that lightering the Iranian crude onto their vessels would lead other oil buyers to shun their ships on future voyages…

Iran's offer to host a maritime event in October has been rejected after a proposal led by the U.S. to rescind the bid was approved in a vote at the UN shipping agency's Council, an agency spokesperson said on Thursday.The move is likely to further raise tensions between Washington and Iran after Tehran tried to seize the Richmond Voyager tanker, which was managed by U.S. oil major Chevron, earlier in July in international Gulf waters.Iran had proposed to host a shipping event in Tehran in late October this year in conjunction with an annual maritime day hosted by the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO), which was accepted in 2015 by the IMO's executive Council.The U.S.…

More than half of the 22 oil tankers in Venezuela's fleet are so run down that they should be immediately repaired or taken out of service, according to an internal report from state-run oil company PDVSA that was shared exclusively with Reuters. The report by PDVSA's maritime branch, entitled "Critical deficiencies and risks of PDV Marina's tanker fleet," said years of deferred maintenance had left the entire fleet with "low levels of reliability," at risk of spills, sinking, fires, collisions or flooding.

Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman in international waters on Thursday, the U.S. Navy said, the latest in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in sensitive Gulf waters since 2019.Iran's army said it had seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after it collided with an Iranian boat, injuring several crewmen, Iranian state media reported."Two members of the boat's crew are missing and several were injured due to the collision of the ship with the boat," an army statement said.The U.S.

An oil tanker runs aground off eastern China, leaking fuel into the water. Another is caught in a collision near Cuba. A third is seized in Spain for drifting out of control.These vessels were part of a "shadow" fleet of tankers carrying oil last year from countries hit by Western sanctions, according to a Reuters analysis of ship tracking and accident data and interviews with more than a dozen industry specialists.Hundreds of extra ships have joined this opaque parallel trade…

Dozens of merchant ships with grains and sugar are stuck outside Iranian ports after weeks of delays as payments snags disrupt flows of goods into the country, according to trade sources and shipping data. Food is exempt from the West's sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, but the impact of the sanctions on Iran's financial system has created complex and erratic payment arrangements with international companies. The latest payment issues have led to ships being unable to discharge cargoes, with at least 40 bulk carrier ships stuck outside the major Iranian ports of Bandar Imam Khomeini and Bandar Abbas, ship tracking data on Refinitiv showed. Iran’s foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment.

The first crew member from one of the two Greek tankers seized by Iranian authorities in May arrived safely in Athens on Tuesday, Greek officials said.Iran has agreed to release the crews of the MT Prudent Warrior and Delta Poseidon, which it seized in May in response to the confiscation of oil by the United States from an Iranian-flagged tanker in Greece."The second captain of Delta Poseidon has arrived home, in Athens," a shipping ministry official told Reuters.The crew member is the first to return home from the total of about 48 seafarers - Greeks, Filipinos and a Cypriot - who are expected to be gradually released and replaced in the coming days, a second Greek official told Reuters.The months-long diplomatic impasse has strained relations between Athens and Tehran as tensions grow be

China is set to receive close to two million barrels of Iranian oil this week and pump into a reserve base in south China, according to tanker tracker specialist Vortexa Analytics.Diona, a very large crude carrier owned by National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), is expected to discharge the oil into an oil terminal in Zhanjiang of Guangdong province, said Emma Li, Vortexa's China analyst.This would be the third Iranian oil cargo destined for government stockpile following two similar-sized shipments in December and January.This shipment is likely to be reported by Chinese customs which is due

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have seized a foreign vessel in the Gulf for smuggling 200,000 liters of fuel, a senior Guards commander told the semi-official Fars news agency on Sunday."The ship was seized in the northern part of the Persian Gulf.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards thwarted an attempt by the United States to detain a tanker carrying the Islamic Republic's oil in the Sea of Oman, Iranian state TV reported on Wednesday, saying the incident took place recently.Reached for comment, the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet said it had seen reports of the incident but at present had no information to provide.Iran's state TV said U.S. forces used helicopters and warships to try to block a tanker carrying Iranian oil in the Sea of Oman.

Iran said on Monday it is ready to ship more fuel to Lebanon if needed, a day after the leader of Lebanon's Iran-aligned Hezbollah group said more vessels carrying Iranian fuel would sail soon to help ease the country's fuel shortage."We sell our oil and its products based on our own decisions and the needs of our friend. Iran is ready to send fuel again to Lebanon if needed," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said in an online weekly news conference."Certainly…

Iran will respond promptly to any threat against its security, the foreign ministry said on Monday, after the United States, Israel and Britain blamed Tehran for an attack on an Israeli-managed tanker off the coast of Oman.Tehran has denied any involvement in the attack on Thursday in which two crew members—a Briton and a Romanian—were killed.The United States and Britain said on Sunday they would work with their allies to respond to the attack on the Mercer Street, a Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned petroleum product tanker managed by Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the incident as "clearly an unacceptable and outrageous attack on commercial shipping"."Iran should face up to the consequences of what they've done…

Iran has opened its first oil terminal in the Gulf of Oman, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday, to allow Tehran to avoid using the Strait of Hormuz shipping route that has been a focus of regional tension for decades."This is a strategic move and an important step for Iran. It will secure the continuation of our oil exports," Rouhani said in a televised speech."Today, the first shipment of 100 tonnes of oil is loaded outside the Strait of Hormuz. This shows the failure of the U.S.

Iran said on Wednesday the United States had agreed to remove all sanctions on Iran's oil and shipping but Washington said "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed" in talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.The remarks by outgoing President Hassan Rouhani's chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi echoed previous assertions by officials in Rouhani's pragmatist camp that Washington is ready to make major concessions at the nuclear talks in Vienna that began in April.The indirect talks adjourned on Sunday for consultations in capitals…

Venezuela is shipping jet fuel to Iran in return for vital gasoline imports for the South American nation as part of a swap deal agreed by the two state-run oil firms, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.Iran has ramped up assistance to Venezuela since last year as the United States tightened sanctions on both countries, hitting oil exports by state-run firms Petroleos de Venezuela and National Iranian oil Company (NIOC).Iran has sent flotillas of state-operated tankers carrying gasoline and feedstock for motor fuel to Venezuela, as well as equipment and spare parts to help the once-prosperous OPEC nation restart its…

The United States has sold more than a million barrels of Iranian fuel seized under its sanctions program last year, a Department of Justice official said, as another ship with intercepted Iranian crude oil sails to a U.S. port.The seizures are part of Washington's tough economic sanctions on Tehran imposed over its nuclear program and the U.S. designation of a number of Iranian groups as terrorists, continuing decades of rancor between the two nations. Iran rejects U.S. accusations of wrongdoing.In a new approach last year, the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump used civil forfeiture procedures to seize some 1.2 million barrels of gasoline it said were being sent from Iran to Venezuela aboard four tankers.The shipments…

Iran said on Monday that a U.S. move this month to seize a cargo of oil on the grounds that it came from Tehran was an act of piracy, adding that the shipment did not belong to the Iranian government.Washington filed a lawsuit earlier this month to seize the cargo, alleging that Iran sought to mask the origin of the oil by transferring it to several vessels before it ended up aboard the Liberian-flagged Achilleas tanker destined for China.Washington said the cargo contravened U.S. terrorism regulations."This shipment does not belong to the Iranian government. It belongs to the private sector," Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran on Monday for an explosion aboard an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman last week, an accusation rejected by Tehran.The vehicle-carrier Helios Ray was hit between Thursday night and Friday morning by a blast above the water line that a U.S official said ripped holes in both sides of its hull. An Israeli official said limpet mines were used.“This was indeed an operation by Iran. That is clear,” Netanyahu told Kan radio.Asked if Israel would retaliate, he said, “You know my policy. Iran is Israel’s biggest enemy. I am determined to fend it off. We are striking at it all over the region.”Iran denied involvement.

Iran's largest navy ship the Kharg sank on Wednesday after catching fire in the Gulf of Oman, but the crew was safely rescued, Iranian media reported.No further explanation was given for the latest incident in a region of sensitive waterways, where there have been accusations of attacks on ships owned by arch-enemies Iran and Israel.State TV said the fire on Iran's highest-tonnage naval vessel started around 2:25 a.m.on Wednesday (21:55 GMT) near the Iranian port of Jask, where…