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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   567 thread views

Transnational Thursday for December 11, 2025

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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I think the fact that tankers seem to be moving oil between Iran and Venezuela is interesting by itself: both are (historically) oil producers. Has Venezuela's production fallen far enough that they're importing it? Or is this an attempt to launder Iranian oil as Venezuelan, which seems a marginal change in sanctions regimes? Is this crude oil or refined products?

The vessel, which has been previously been registered to (let's say for the sake of argument) more reputable owners, is listed as a crude oil tanker. Normally they do not also carry refined liquids, as gasoline is much more volatile and requires different handling.

It was not necessarily running between Iran and Venezuela with oil. The AIS shows them running oil all over the place, but they have also been accused of AIS spoofing, including location/destination data.

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