Iran to export oil to Syria, with American and Israeli approval – report

According to reports, there are already three Iranian tankers en route to Syria.

By World Israel News Staff

A fledgling U.S.-brokered deal permitting Iran to export oil to Syria may receive a seal of approval from Israel, Israel’s Channel 12 News reported on Sunday.

Allowing Iran to transfer oil to Syria would be a symbolic gesture of goodwill on the part of the U.S. as European officials have signaled a return to talks aimed at coaxing Tehran back into an agreement to suspend its nuclear weapons programs.

Israel would reportedly endorse to the arrangement if Iran would agree to grant the U.S. full visibility into the shipments, in order to ensure that the tankers are not being used for arms or weapons smuggling.

There are already three oil tankers currently en route to Syria from Iran. Those ships were used in the past to transfer weapons from Iran to the Hezbollah terror group and other regional proxies, Channel 12 said.

The last round of nuclear talks between European powers and Iran stalled after weeks of fruitless negotiations.

The report of the oil transfer agreement comes after the U.S. brokered talks in Egypt which saw senior security officials from Arab countries and Israel discuss strategy for mitigating the Iranian aerial threat.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the officials agreed to share intelligence to warn each other of incoming attacks, such as UAVs, via phone calls and digital communications.

Last week, several Arab states signed a deal which would see 720 million cubic meters of Egyptian natural gas imported to Lebanon each year, via Syria.

Egyptian officials stressed that they would not formally ratify the agreement until they receive assurances from the American government that the deal does not violate sanctions against the Syrian government.

Cairo would face serious financial and diplomatic consequences should it be found by the U.S. to be evading sanctions on Syria.