TEHRAN - Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has praised crew of the Iranian tankers that shipped fuel to Venezuela.

“You did a great job. Your move was jihadi. You brought glory to the country,” the Leader said in a message published on Monday.

Five Iranian oil tankers by the names of Petunia, Forest, Faxon, Clavel and Fortune carried fuel to Venezuela despite the United States’ sanctions. The last of them entered Venezuelan waters on June 1.

The tankers carried 1,520,000 barrels of gasoline and diesel fuel to Venezuela. There was also a team of Iranian engineers and specialists from the oil industry on board heading for the country.

Conn Hallinan, a columnist for Foreign Policy In Focus, has said that arrival of Iranian fuel tankers in Venezuelan waters was a crack in wall of the United States’ illegal sanctions against Caracas.

This action is a step in reducing “pressure” on Venezuela, Hallinan said, adding the Venezuelan people were in dire need of fuel.

This shipment brought revenue for Iran and from this point of view it was “a crack in wall of the United States’ illegal sanctions,” he told IRNA in an interview published on June 1.

NA/PA