High-level Lebanese delegation arrives in Syria to talk fuel

DAMASCUS — A senior Lebanese government delegation arrived in Syria on Saturday for talks expected to focus on the crippling fuel crisis that has paralysed Lebanon. It marked the highest official visit since Syria’s civil war began more than a decade ago.

Lebanon is expecting a shipment of fuel from Iran, which local media said is to be delivered at a major Syrian port and transported by land. The leader of the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group has arranged with allies in Tehran to ship the fuel to Lebanon to help ease the small country’s fuel shortages, according to AP.

The delivery would violate US sanctions on Iran imposed by former President Donald Trump, who pulled Washington out of a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in 2018.

There is no date yet for the fuel arrival but the shipment to Lebanon is seen as a test of US sanctions and many in Lebanon fear it could trigger penalties.

US officials have warned against Lebanon using Iranian oil and have offered assistance to deal with the economic crisis, the biggest threat to Lebanese stability in decades. Visiting US officials said they were in talks with Lebanese, Egyptian and Jordanian officials to find long-term solutions to the fuel crisis.

One solution that has been floated is to organise the delivery of Egyptian natural gas through Jordan by way of a pipeline that goes through Syria.

“The agenda is to discuss bringing Egyptian natural gas to Jordan, then to Syria and Lebanon to help with energy production … and look at existing deals and reach new understandings,” said Nasri Khoury, head of the Damascus-based Syrian Lebanese Higher Council, a government-linked body. A 2009 deal to deliver natural gas through a pipeline that runs through Syria has been inactive since 2010 and the Syrian war has damaged the pipelines.

Iran has already been sending fuel to the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who it has supported throughout the war that broke out in 2011.

Now, with Iranian fuel designated for Lebanon, it is expected to be offloaded at Baniyas, a Syrian port, and then transported by land in tankers to Lebanon. Media reports said the transport is likely to be organized by Hezbollah.