of refined oil products over the next six months.
Afghans have said the Islamic Republic has effectively held Afghanistan hostage and forced it to buy Iranian oil products.
Ali-Reza Zeighami, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Co., announced the contract Saturday. He pointedly did not say how much Afghanistan would pay for the refined oil.
The Afghan private sector used to import oil products from Iraq and Turkmenistan that were carried by tanker truck across Iran. Last December, Iran blocked the trucks at the border with Iran charging that the fuel was going to the American military. Afghanistan denied that. (The US military brings in its own fuel.)
After weeks of fuel shortages, Iran said it would only allow tankers into Afghanistan carrying Iranian fuel products. The Afghan importers objected, saying Iran was charging much more than Iraq or Turkmenistan.
Zeighami said the Afghan government has now replaced the Afghan private sector as the importer. He said the imports would be 70 percent gasoil, 20 percent gasoline and 10 percent jet fuel.
The report of the contract carried by Shana, the Oil Ministry’s news agency, said nothing about any Iranian requirement that the fuel not go to the US military. Apparently, Iran has forgotten all about that assertion.
The coercion used by the Islamic Republic contrasts with its repeated allegations that the United States bullies smaller countries to gain economic benefit.
