​​​​​​​America's prestige is at stake: Iranian fuel starts arriving in Venezuela

The first oil tanker among five Iranian tankers entered the exclusive economic zone of Venezuela on Saturday carrying fuel for the country, which is facing an acute shortage of gasoline despite a US official warning that Washington is considering a response to these shipments, according to Reuters news agency.

Refinitive Icon's tracking data for ships said that the tanker arrived in the waters of Venezuela at about 7:40 p.m. local time (11:40 GMT) after it passed north of Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean.

"The ships from the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran are now in our exclusive economic zone," Tariq al-Aissami, Venezuelan Vice President for Economic Affairs, who was recently appointed oil minister, said on Twitter earlier.

Venezuelan state television showed scenes of a navy ship and plane's willingness to meet the carrier.

The Venezuelan defense minister had pledged that the army would accompany the tankers upon their arrival in the exclusive economic zone of his country because of what the authorities described as the threats of the United States.

The tanker fleet carries a total of 1.53 million barrels of gasoline and Oil derivatives for Venezuela, according to the two governments, and the sources and estimates of the Tanker.com dot website, which specializes in tracking tanker traffic.

The shipments caused a diplomatic confrontation between Iran and Venezuela on the one hand and the United States on the other, as the two countries are subject to American sanctions.

A senior official said Washington was considering measures to respond, without giving details of the options.

The United States recently strengthened its presence in the Caribbean in preparation for what it says is an expansion of the anti-drug operation.

However, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said on Thursday he was not aware of any operations related to Iranian shipments.

Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency reported that President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that his country would respond if the United States caused any problems for tankers carrying Iranian fuel to Venezuela.

"If our tankers in the Caribbean or anywhere in the world are subjected to any trouble by the Americans, then they will face troubles as well," the agency quoted Rouhani as saying by phone with the emir of Qatar.

T/S

ANHA