US warns Venezuela and Cuba to turn away Iranian ships believed to be carrying arms

The Biden administration is urging Venezuela and Cuba to turn away two Iranian warships believed to be carrying arms intended for transfer to Caracas, while vowing that the US will take “appropriate measures” to deter what it sees as a “threat” to America’s partners in the Western Hemisphere.

The warnings – some public and some private, according to three people briefed on the situation – come as the vessels have travelled a significant distance across the Atlantic Ocean. A senior Biden administration official said the ships are thought to be carrying weapons to fulfil a deal that Iran and Venezuela made a year ago.

The official did not specify the types of weapons involved, but last summer there were reports that Venezuela was considering purchasing missiles from Iran, including long-range ones, and aides to then-President Donald Trump repeatedly warned Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro against such a move.

The intelligence community, meanwhile, has evidence that one of the ships, the Makran, is carrying fast-attack boats, likely intended for sale to Venezuela, according to a defence official and another person familiar with the intelligence.

Satellite imagery of the Makran from early May provided by Maxar Technologies showed seven such vessels placed on its deck, but it had been unclear whether those boats were still aboard when the ship began its journey.

“The delivery of such weapons would be a provocative act and understood as a threat to our partners in the Western Hemisphere,” the senior administration official said in a statement. “We would reserve the right to take appropriate measures in coordination with our partners to deter the transit or delivery of such weapons.”

The White House is pressuring Caracas and Havana over diplomatic channels not to allow the vessels to dock in their countries, said two defence officials and a congressional official, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations. Biden officials are also proactively reaching out to other governments in the region to ensure they will turn away the ships, the congressional official said.

Meanwhile, Caracas is trying to gear the situation to gain relief from US sanctions imposed by the Trump administration, according to two additional people familiar with the situation. US intermediaries have communicated to Venezuelan officials that letting the ships dock there would make it less likely that the US would provide the country with sanctions relief. However, Tehran is pushing forward with the journey in the hope of pressuring Caracas to allow the vessels to dock, according to a defence official.

It was not immediately clear if the Biden administration also considered the weapons a threat to the US itself.

The senior administration official added that the US is trying to resolve the situation through diplomacy. “But to be clear, Iran sold weapons to Venezuela over a year ago, which we believe was to test the Trump administration’s maximum pressure posture,” the official said.

If Venezuela agrees to allow the ships to dock and any weapons deal to go through, it would be a show of defiance toward the US by two adversarial countries that have increased their cooperation as both face US sanctions.

The mere completion of a journey across the Atlantic would be a significant step for Iran’s navy, showing the ships’ capabilities and potentially increasing Tehran’s access to the Western Hemisphere.

Representatives for the State Department and Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.