The Israeli Channel 12 network reported that Tel Aviv is on the verge of concluding an indirect tripartite agreement with Iran and the United States. The agreement contemplates the possibility of allowing oil from Iran to pass through the Assad regime’s Syria without any interference.
Three oil tankers are currently on their way from Iran to Syria via sea, a route that Tehran has previously used to smuggle weapons to Syria and Hezbollah, the channel said.
As part of reviving the Iranian nuclear deal, the United States is considering a series of concessions for Iran to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table, the channel said. It added that one of these concessions is to allow the oil transportation route to operate. To this end, Israel is actively and very significantly involved.
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The channel noted that the idea was for Israel to agree on the concession provided that the United States regulated the oil trade, and Iran participated with full transparency. Israel also requires that the route be used for transporting oil, not weapons.
In the past, Israel has actively interfered with this route when it was used to transport weapons, thwarting those operations. But the current message conveyed to the Americans and Iranians relates to the need for regulation and evidence that only oil passes via that route — otherwise, Israel will not stand by idly, according to Channel 12.
Tehran supports the Assad regime with crude oil. Recently, three Iranian oil tankers have recently arrived on the Syrian coast following Bashar al-Assad’s visit to Tehran.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration attempted to trade Tehran’s return to the nuclear deal in exchange for the country’s release in Syria.
This tactic was confirmed by former Saudi General Intelligence Chief Bandar bin Sultan, who said that the Obama administration dodged military action in Syria because of negotiations with Iran on the nuclear issue.
He added that Washington’s allies were shocked and stunned to discover later that Iran’s gains in Syria were due to Obama’s nuclear negotiations with Tehran. “We discovered that at the time he was negotiating with Iran on the nuclear deal, that he did not want to take any step that would spoil these negotiations. This coincided with the Iranians being desperate for sanctions relief,” bin Sultan said.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
