The Islamic Republic’s Oil Minister, Mohsen Paknejad, visited the country’s main petroleum export terminal on Kharg Island Sunday amid fears Israel may soon target the theocracy’s energy sector in response to last week’s massive missile attack on the Jewish state that was orchestrated by Tehran.
The ministry’s news website, Shana, reported Paknejad held security-related talks with the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval commander, Mohammad Hossein Bargahi, while he toured the site.
"The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy plays an important role in the security of oil and gas facilities," Paknejad was quoted as saying.
The meeting comes after President Joe Biden confirmed his administration might allow Jerusalem to carry out retaliatory actions against the Islamic Republic's oil industry. The Thursday statement followed comments from the previous day, in which he emphasized that the White House would not accept any actions targeting the regime's nuclear infrastructure.
Concerns about potential Israeli reprisals have led the National Iranian Tanker Company to move many of its vessels away from the strategically important location. A Thursday analysis by tankertrackers.com noted, “All of the extra vacant shipping capacity has been removed from the anchorage of Kharg Island. This is the first time we have seen anything like this since the 2018 sanctions round.”
If the facilities on Kharg Island were rendered inoperable, Tehran would likely face significant financial losses as the complex has the capacity to store 23 million barrels of crude and is responsible for distributing 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports.
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