No ship held up outside ports over US sanctions; official Told ILNA
Iran Managing Director of Ports and Maritime Organization Mohammad Rastad rejected reports suggesting that ships carrying imports of grain have been stuck because of American sanctions.
In an exclusive interview with ILNA economic correspondent, he added “From last year up to now, we have not seen any changes in the entry of ships carrying essential goods to ports.”
“Therefore, there has been no change in the supply and transfer of money.”
The comments came after the Reuters news agency claimed in a report that at least 20 dry bulk ships carrying around one million tons of grains were waiting outside Imam Khomeini Port for unloading. It said other vessels had waited for weeks for their cargoes to be processed in the port and in Bandar Abbas, another major cargo port on the Persian Gulf.
Iranian official said “All docks are used for mooring vessels and no docks are currently empty.”
“Assume that storage capacity in this port has been nearly three million tons but currently around six million tons of basic goods have entered this port.”
He said elsewhere that a recent initiative by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for regional security, known as the “Hormuz Peace Endeavor” is one of the safest maritime routes due to the power of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Navy.
The official about the challenges in the Persian Gulf, especially on the current security debate, said that if conditions are routinely assigned to regional countries, "we will have no challenges, but the challenge begins when foreign countries intervene in the region".
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