CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan authorities celebrated Monday as the first of five Iranian tankers loaded with gasoline docked in the South American country, delivering badly needed fuel to the crisis-stricken nation that sits atop the world's largest oil reserves.
The gasoline shipments are arriving in defiance of stiff sanctions by the Trump administration against both nations, and they mark a new era in the burgeoning relationship between Venezuela and Iran, which is expanding its footprint in the Western Hemisphere.
"We keep moving forward and winning," Venezuela's Minister of Energy Tareck El Aissami tweeted.
State TV played images of the ship pulling through Caribbean waters as Venezuelan fighter jets flew overhead. El Aissami posted photographs on his Twitter account of the sun rising over the tanker docked at El Palito refinery.
A crew of Iranian technicians is already at work at state-run Petroleos de Venezuela's Cardon and Amuay refineries, as part of a broader assistance plan that's brought over workers, supplies and parts in exchange for about 9 tons of gold, or $500 million worth.
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Washington says both Iran and Venezuela are ruled by repressive regimes. It recently offered a $15 million reward for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's arrest on drug smuggling charges in a "maximum pressure" campaign against the socialist leader.
Washington recognizes opposition politician Juan Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate leader in a coalition of nearly 60 nations, which consider Maduro's election a fraud because his most popular rivals were banned from running.
In a sign of rising tension inside Venezuela, the chief prosecutor on Monday asked the pro-Maduro Supreme Court to decide whether Guaido's political party Popular Will should be designated a terrorist organization.
"Confronted with the impossibility of obtaining power through votes, Popular Will has turned to violence," Saab said, accusing the party of hiring "mercenaries" who carried out a recent failed incursion, among other alleged acts. Guaido advisers had dealt with the man leading the attempt, though Guaido himself denied any involvement.
The first Iranian ship to arrive, the Fortune, is trailed by four other tankers expected to arrive in the next few days. The shipments, however, only carry enough fuel for two or three weeks, analysts say.
Russ Dallen, head of the Miami-based investment firm Caracas Capital Markets, said the Iranian shipments were anything but a victory for Venezuelans. The first tanker carries an estimated 11 million gallons of gasoline to a nation with roughly 5 million cars, he said.
"Venezuela, the country with the largest oil reserves in the world, is now reduced to importing millions of gallons of gasoline from another failed pariah state halfway around the world," Dallen said.
Venezuela also has one of the world's largest refineries, which has fallen into disrepair. The country produces a fraction of the oil it did when Maduro's predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez, rose to power two decades ago and launched Venezuela's socialist revolution.
Critics blame corruption and mismanagement amid an economic crisis that has led to huge migration by Venezuelans seeking to escape poverty, shortages of basic goods and crime.
Deep gasoline shortages have plagued Venezuela for years, though the problem had until recently largely spared the capital of Caracas.
Despite Washington's objections, the first ship arrived with no interference from U.S. ships patrolling the Caribbean on what officials call a drug interdiction mission.
The Trump administration is reviewing a host of options to deter Iran's support for Maduro, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Advisers to the president are urging a measured approach that doesn't flare up U.S.-Iran tensions over a small supply of fuel, the person said.
Iran's Foreign Ministry has said any attempt by the U.S. to stop them will be met with "a swift and decisive response."
Maduro thanked Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Iranian people from "the bottom of my heart" for the deliveries, saying Venezuela has "good and brave friends" in the world, according to a TV statement on Sunday. He defended the deal as part of a previous cooperation agreement.
"We, Venezuela and Iran, want peace," Maduro said. "We have the right to freely trade products throughout the seas of the world."
Information for this article was contributed by Scott Smith of The Associated Press and by Patricia Laya, Ben Bartenstein and Fabiola Zerpa of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 05/26/2020