The Lebanese Energy Ministry has not received a request to import fuel from Iran, caretaker Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar said on Wednesday.
“We were not asked for permission to import fuel from Iran. As the Ministry and the [Lebanese Petroleum Administration], our role is limited to import permission,” Ghajar said during a press conference.
This comes after Hezbollah had announced that Iranian fuel tankers were headed to Lebanon, which is suffering from severe fuel shortages.
On Friday, the Iran-backed party said that a third tanker would set sail for Lebanon with the aim of alleviating its fuel crisis.
The import of fuel from Iran, a sanctioned country, without prior exemption from the United States, could expose Lebanon to sanctions, experts and officials have warned.
Notably, a semi-official Iranian news agency reported in August that the shipments had been purchased by a group of Lebanese Shiite businessmen.
Officially, Lebanon is in the process of importing 1 million tonnes of oil from Iraq, expected to arrive later this month.
