Iran ‘Steals Iraqi Oil to Beat Sanctions’
11th February 2012
Iran has been systematically plundering large amounts of oil from southern Iraq for years, a theft on a grand scale that’s helping the Islamic Republic withstand sanctions aimed at throttling its oil exports, a U.S. security consultancy says.
“Tehran has built a complex oil smuggling network that allows it to bring in significant revenues from southern Iraq’s oil production,” observed Stratfor, which has its offices in Texas.
These funds, worth around $20 million a day, enable Iran, which is predominantly Shiite Muslim, “to maintain its influence in the region while preparing to defend itself from stringent sanctions against its oil exports,” Stratfor said.
Stratfor said that roughly 10 percent of the oil produced in the Basra region of Shiite-dominated southern Iraq, where two-thirds of Iraq’s oil reserves lie, “is smuggled, most of which ends up in Iran for export.”
What you won’t see on a T-shirt near you: ‘No Blood For Oil’ in Arabic — or Farsi.