WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States is investigating whether Venezuela has sent gasoline to Iran despite U.S. sanctions on such activity, a senior State Department official said yesterday.
“Let me say that we’re looking at that issue,” Valenzuela told a House of Representatives foreign affairs subcommittee chaired by Mack, a Republican.
Valenzuela said U.S. officials had raised the matter with both the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and the Venezuelan government, “because we are trying to determine whether or not there is in fact a violation.”
But he declined to say what might happen if a violation of U.S. sanctions law had occurred.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, branded a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States, and Venezuela’s leftist government, which is frequently at loggerheads with Washington over regional issues, have expanded their relations in recent years.
Trade sources said last month that Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA was sending two cargoes of gasoline to Iran. The cargoes were for February delivery, three trade sources told Reuters.
