A number of Maltese-registered Iranian ships allegedly being used to transport oil from Syria to China in violation of EU sanctions are to be struck off Malta’s ship register within a month.
The decision was taken last week, in the wake of reports that Iran was using these Maltese-registered ships to help prop up Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorial regime in Syria, a government statement said. The statement made explicit reference to one of the vessels, the MT Tour, by name. Once the necessary checks had been made, the decision was taken to suspend their registration certificates with immediate effect.
The vessels in question will also be struck off the ship registry.
Both Syria and Iran have been slapped with EU sanctions over the past year, albeit for different reasons. While civilian bloodshed is behind the Syrian sanctions, Iran remains a pariah due to its refusal to disavow its nuclear programme. Iran is among Syria’s closest regional allies and has openly praised Bashar al-Assad’s handling of the year-long uprising.
China, the alleged purchaser of the oil in question, has also been reluctant to criticise Syria or Iran, having used its UN Security Council veto on a number of occasions to torpedo any resolutions calling for harsher penalties against the two states.