Tehran Voices Readiness to Ship More Fuel to Lebanon If Needed

By Staff, Agencies

Iran said on Monday it is ready to ship more fuel to Lebanon if needed, a day after Hezbollah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said more vessels carrying Iranian fuel would sail soon to help ease the country's fuel shortage.

"We sell our oil and its products based on our own decisions and the needs of our friend. Iran is ready to send fuel again to Lebanon if needed," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in an online weekly news conference.

"Certainly we cannot see the suffering of the Lebanese people," Khatibzadeh said.

On Sunday Sayyed Nasrallah said the first vessel shipping Iranian fuel to Lebanon, which last Thursday His Eminence announced was about to leave Iran, had already sailed.

Last week Iran's semi-official Nournews news website reported that the fuel shipments to Lebanon were all purchased by a group of Lebanese Shia businessmen.

"We announce our readiness to sell fuel to the Lebanese government in addition to the fuel purchased by the Lebanese Shia businessmen, if the Lebanese government is willing," said Khatibzadeh.