routes Archives

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, right, gestures while speaking to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, during an official welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Yerevan, Armenia, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016. Rouhani began his 3-day tour to Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on bilateral ties and regional developments. (Davit Hakobyan, PAN Photo via AP) (The Associated Press)

YEREVAN, Armenia – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says on a visit to Armenia that the two nations should work to expand transport routes in the region.

Rouhani said Wednesday after talks with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan that Iran and Armenia must develop a transport corridor that will lead from the Persian Gulf all the way to the Black Sea.

Landlocked Armenia borders Iran, along with Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The former Soviet nation has suffered from a crippling economic blockade imposed by Turkey, which supports its ally Azerbaijan in the conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Rouhani said it’s important for Iran and Armenia to boost their security cooperation. He noted the two nations should also jointly tackle environmental issues related to the Aras River that flows along their border.

Russian Defense Ministry has presented photos of oil delivery convoys at Syria-Turkey border, the head of the Russian General Staff’s operative command said.

The general staff has irrefutable evidence on Turkey’s involvement in illegal oil trade. Moscow has called on Turkey to open access to the places where, according to the retrieved Russian intel, Daesh oil trade centers are located:

“If there is nothing there — then the territories in question should be inspected,” the Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov stressed.

“We have identified three main oil routes,” the head of the Russian General Staff’s operative command Sergei Rudskoy said.

The western route leads to the Turkish ports in the Mediterranean, the northern — to Patma oil refinery, and the eastern — to Cazri transfer point.

The ministry provided photographs of columns of oil fuel tankers on the Turkish-Syrian border. Fuel tankers with oil freely cross the border between Turkey and Iraq, according to Russia’s General Staff.

“Space recoinassance established that after crossing the border tanker trucks move further into Turkey,” Rudskoy said. Then the oil is being delivered to third countries.

The oil from Daesh-controlled areas in Syria is being shipped to third countries for processing after having been transported to Turkey, the head of the Russian General Staff’s operative command noted.

“According to the most modest estimates, the terrorists’ revenues from criminal [oil] business stood at no less than $3 million per day. After our airstrikes, the revenues went down to $1.5 million per day,” Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy told reporters.

Russian Defense Ministry’s information on Daesh oil trucks in Syria will be made publicly available online.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow has evidence that its Su-24 was shot down by Turkish forces on the Syrian border in order to protect oil deliveries from Daesh to Turkey, and that oil from Daesh-controlled fields is being exported to Turkey on an industrial scale.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan vehemently denied the allegations, vowing that if evidence does surface, he will resign from the presidency.