As Russia is choked off from Western financial institutions, it is likely to further bolster Tehran's illicit sanctions-busting schemes to help it offset international sanctions.
Russia, UANI said in a Thursday statement on the situation, "Has joined its ally China in participating in Iranian sanctions-busting schemes to smuggle crude oil and gas." Russia, China, and Iran are now leading the charge to bust U.S. oil sanctions.
"Iran has continuously worked to evade sanctions on its oil exports. Given that Russia and Iran have openly expressed their desire to expand cooperation, it is not surprising that Iran has found a partner in Russia to help it do this," Claire Jungman, UANI's chief of staff, told the Free Beacon.
"Through the use of these now-sanctioned Russian tankers, Iran continues to generate billions in revenue to fund its malign activity. As Russia becomes more isolated, we might see these two countries working even closer together as they work to evade sanctions and generate revenue."
The tanker Linda first loaded Iranian crude oil on Jan. 30, via a ship-to-ship transfer from the Emerald, another flagged tanker that was accused of leaking Iranian oil off of Israel's coast, according to the satellite imagery reviewed by the Free Beacon.
When the international arms embargo on Iran expired in October 2020, Russia and China were the first to express an interest in striking new arms deals with Iran.
Illicit Iranian oil shipments jumped by 40 percent in 2021, with China, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Venezuela, and Russia being the largest importers, the Free Beacon first reported in January.
https://freebeacon.com/national-security/russia-involved-in-plot-to-help-iran-bust-us-oil-sanctions/
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