Iran’s Central Insurance Co. Ready To Insure Foreign Oil Tankers

In a bid to counter the US-engineered European Union insurance bans against Iran, the Islamic Republic’s Central Insurance Company has announced its readiness to provide insurance coverage for Iran-bound foreign oil tankers.

“These services will be offered in cooperation with (Iran’s) Oil Ministry and the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade to oil tankers” coming to Iran from overseas, said Seyyed Mohammad Karimi, the director of Iran’s Central Insurance company in a Monday interview with IRNA.

On Sunday, Mohammad-Reza Mohammadi Banaei, the managing director of Iran’s Kish Mutual Protection and Indemnity Club said his company was ready to provide further insurance cover for the oil tankers shipping Iranian crude, adding that 13 new tankers are set to be insured in the near future.

On January 23, under pressure from the United States, the European Union’s foreign ministers approved new sanctions against Tehran. The sanctions, which prevent all the EU member states from purchasing Iran’s oil or extending insurance coverage for tankers carrying Iranian crude, came into effect on July 1.

The sanctions were imposed under the pretext that that Iran is seeking to acquire a military nuclear capability. Tehran has rejected such allegations, noting that frequent inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency have never found any diversion in its nuclear energy program toward military purposes.

Presstv