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Resumption of Iranian oil shipping off to slow start

While many are hailing Iran's first oil tanker reaching European shores as an important development, the country's energy sector must still overcome several more hurdles.
An oil tanker is seen off the port of Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, on July 2, 2012. Iran has come up with several methods to foil the European insurance embargo on ships loaded with its crude, a sanction which may harm its vital exports as much as the EU oil embargo itself. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE        (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/GettyImages)

In mid-January, an Iranian oil tanker leased to a Spanish oil company reached Europe. It called at the Port of Algeciras in Spain two days after the one-year anniversary of the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and shortly before US President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20. The managing director of the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), Sirus Kianersi, hailed the development: "Today, after resolution of insurance, classing, flagging and international certification issues for Iranian vessels, we have witnessed another JCPOA achievement for the country's marine transportation."

Before the nuclear deal was reached, it would have been impossible for an Iranian tanker to unload Iranian crude oil at a European port due to the EU sanctions against Iran. Among other things, these restrictions banned European imports of Iranian crude, prevented European energy companies from entering Iran’s energy industry, cut Iran off from international banking and insurance systems and since 2012, denied the NITC access to European ports.

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