On August 14, an aircraft of Qeshnm Fars Air, an Iranian airline under U.S. sanctions, landed at Simón Bolívar International Airport, in Maiquetía, Caracas. The aircraft had left Tehran with a valuable shipment for the Nicolás Maduro regime: 47.9 tons of catalysts for fuel production.
By Diálogo – Digital Military Magazine
Sep 6, 2021
A Bolivarian National Guard document in the possession of Horacio Medina, current president of the ad hoc Administrative Board of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA, in Spanish), indicates that authorities transferred this entire shipment to the Paraguaná Refining Center (CRP, in Spanish), in Falcon state.
According to Medina, catalysts are necessary precursors to accelerate the hydrocarbon manufacturing process. This enables the Cardón refinery, which is part of the CRP, to produce between 25,000 and 40,000 barrels per day of gasoline.
However, the Iranian airline flights are not enough to keep the refineries operational. Another document Medina holds indicates that the Venezuelan regime is also using the Venezuelan airline Conviasa to complement the transfer of supplies.
The British commodity news Argus Media reported that Conviasa flights transporting catalysts began in February. On August 20, according to Medina’s document, an aircraft with the tail number YV3507 arrived from the Iranian capital with another 23-ton shipment of catalysts.
In February 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned Conviasa and its entire aircraft fleet because the Venezuelan regime used it “to shuttle corrupt regime officials around the world to fuel support for its anti-democratic efforts,” then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement on February 7, 2020.
At this time, according to Medina, the only supplier of these key precursors for the Venezuelan oil industry is Iran, due to an agreement between the Islamic Republic and the Maduro regime.
He explained that if PDVSA attempted to obtain these materials from other suppliers, it would have to pay in cash, since this would be the only way to avoid U.S. sanctions.
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Read More: Diálogo – Digital Military Magazine – Venezuela relies on Iran and sanctioned airlines for fuel production
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