Documents delivered by former Venezuelan intelligence agents to the United States Prosecutor’s Office maintain that at least 7,821 million dollars from Venezuelan crude oil were diverted for years to Iranian state structures.
MADRID, Spain.- Revenues from Venezuelan oil would have been used for years to finance state structures in Iran, including areas related to its nuclear program, within the framework of a strategic alliance between both governments, according to an investigation published this Monday by the Spanish newspaper ABC.
According to the report, documents delivered by former intelligence agents and a former senior Venezuelan official to the United States Attorney’s Office and the White House describe a network of financial, energy and logistical mechanisms that would have allowed Venezuelan resources to be diverted towards Iranian interests, despite the international sanctions that weigh on Tehran. The estimated amount of these flows would amount to 7,821 million dollars.
The investigation indicates that these funds would have been channeled through opaque structures, including state companies, binational projects without verifiable production, financial intermediaries and triangulation schemes linked to the export of crude oil. Some of these operations, according to the investigation, would have been sustained for years as part of broader cooperation between Caracas and Tehran in sectors such as energy, mining, transportation and defense.
The report is also part of broader investigations by US authorities into transnational networks linked to Chavismo, which include accusations of drug traffickingmoney laundering and financing of activities considered hostile by Washington.
The accusation occurs in a context of growing tension between the regime of Nicolás Maduro and the United States, marked by economic sanctions, seizures of oil shipments and greater surveillance of the financial networks that support the Venezuelan Government. The information disclosed by ABC reinforces the perception in political and security sectors of the United States that Venezuela is part of an axis of alliances with sanctioned countries.
In that scenario, Last Wednesday, US forces intercepted an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. The president of the United States, Donald Trump, confirmed the operation from the White House and assured that it was the largest oil tanker seized to date by his country. Subsequently, Attorney General Pam Bondi reported that the ship was boarded for its alleged involvement in an illicit crude oil transportation network that, according to Washington, supports foreign terrorist organizations.
Sources cited by CBS identified the ship as The Skipper, sanctioned in 2022 by the US Treasury Department for its alleged participation in an oil smuggling network linked to the financing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Lebanese group Hezbollah. According to PDVSA documents, maritime tracking data and officials cited by AP and Reutersthe tanker was headed to Cuba, where the state-owned company Cubametales hoped to receive part of the cargo for subsequent resale to Asian intermediaries.
After the seizure, the Government of Nicolás Maduro publicly thanked Iran for rejecting the US operation. Foreign Minister Yván Gil affirmed that Tehran supported Caracas’ complaint, which described the United States’ action as an “act of piracy” and as an illegitimate use of its internal legislation.
