LatinNews Daily - 22 July 2019

* Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras has refused to supply two Iranian ships with fuel, as they are owned and operated by Iranian companies subject to US sanctions. As tensions between the US and Iran grow, Petrobras said it risked joining the list of sanctioned companies if it refuelled the ships, currently docked at the Paranaguá port in Paraná state. The ships reached Brazil in June with a cargo of urea (used in fertilizers) and are due to return to Iran with thousands of tonnes of maize. A court order obtained by the shipping company obliging Petrobras to provide the fuel has been temporarily suspended by Brazil's supreme court (STF), and federal attorney general Raquel Dodge has declared that Petrobras should not be obliged to supply the fuel as the shipping company can turn to other fuel providers, and the matter could become one of public order relating to Brazil’s diplomatic relations. President Jair Bolsonaro has declared that Brazil is aligned with the US’s policy on the matter as he seeks closer relations with the government of US President Donald Trump.

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