Iranian cargo ship enters Venezuelan waters

Hojjatollah Soltani wrote on his Twitter account on Sunday that the Iranian merchandise vessel ‘Golsan’ has entered the Venezuelan waters and is approaching the port of La Guaira to deliver food and equipment for the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic to the South American nation.

The Iranian-flagged general cargo ship Golsan departed on May 15 from Bandar Abbas.

"The Golsan will arrive carrying food to open the first Iranian supermarket in Venezuela," the Iranian Embassy wrote on Saturday via its Twitter account. It did not provide details.

Five tankers left for the Caribbean from the same port in March after loading fuel.

Iran supplied 1.5 million barrels of fuel to Venezuela last month amid a collapse of refinery operations and tightening sanctions by the United States that has made it more difficult for Venezuela to obtain fuel on international markets.

Iran is expected to dispatch two to three monthly shipments of gasoline to Venezuela, according to sources, which would help alleviate the fuel shortage in Venezuela.