Some 2,300 trucks filled with “dangerous” and “insecure” fuels are planned to be exported to Iraqi Kurdistan Region from Iran, two sources close to the case revealed to Avatoday.
“The petrol sold by the IRGC to the Kurdistan region as standard quality (standard grade) gasoline, is contaminated and contains harmful substances. The quality control review report reveals that hazardous (higher than standard) levels of naphtha with methanol-to-propylene (MTP) benzol and Isano oil have been added to this petrol to disguise (mask) its low quality,” one of the sources explained to Avatoday on condition of anonymity.
According to a report by Kurdistan region's Haji Omran border crossing, on March 18, 2021, 43 fuel trucks were sent back to Iran because the fuel they were carrying failed to pass quality control.
The IRGC has claimed that it has been told by the Islamic Republic's consulate in Erbil that the petrol exported to the region was produced in the Bandar Abbas refinery and meets international standards.
But another confidential source told Avatoday that “the imported petrol from Iran is far from standard and contains chemicals harmful to the environment and to agricultural products, and that the fumes emitted by its combustion (or its exhaust gas) contain high levels of lead and toxic gases that increase cancer, lung and respiratory diseases, and infertility in women. It also damages the vehicles that use it.”
Some officials in the Kurdistan region of Iraq have allowed importing petrol dispatched by the IRGC despite US sanctions, and this tendency has increased since Joe Biden became president, according to the sources.
