Iran has blocked thousands of fuel trucks from crossing into Afghanistan as its initial reprisal for US fuel sanctions and the US-Israeli partnership reported by the US media in planting the Stuxnet virus in its nuclear production systems, debkafile‘s military and intelligence sources report. More Iranian retribution is ahead.
In the last week of December, Iran began its blockade by stalling some 2,500 trucks on the border. Since roughly one-third of Afghanistan’s gasoline and diesel consumption comes from Iran, the blockade has sent prices soaring by up to 70 percent.
(The coming DEBKA-Net-Weekly out next Friday deals with Iranian-Taliban collusion in Afghanistan. To subscribe, click here)
US and NATO forces in Afghanistan which have been relying on the Iranian fuel shipped to Afghanistan have been forced to look for other sources of supply.
Our military sources report that the fuel shortage caused by the Iranian blockade and insurgent attacks on fuel convoys coming in from Pakistan are beginning to show their mark on the US-led war effort, slowing it down and diverting NATO to covering the Afghan population’s heating needs in a particularly harsh winter. The average Afghan cannot find enough heating oil and when he does, he can’t afford to pay for it.
Stormy anti-Iranian protest rallies have taken place in Kabul and Herat near the Iranian border.
Tuesday, Afghan businessmen, urged by President Hamid Karzai and American commanders, declared a boycott on business with neighboring Iran until the thousands of fuel trucks are allowed to cross.
The boycott resolution by the Afghan Chamber of Commerce is mostly symbolic since it is unlikely the eastern Afghans whose livelihood depends on trade with Iran will hold out for long.
WarSclerotic 
January 19, 2011 at 1:31 AM
The best wway that I can figure to secure the fuel routes would be to send them in as heavily armed and gaurded convoys. With about a couple of dozen loads of fuel at a time. That would maintain a steady flow and mmake the security Operations a little easier to secure so that they would not be so scattered out and be enroute without as much security and re-enforcements that it would take to secure them.
January 19, 2011 at 3:13 PM
Volunteer: The point is…It is Iranian fuel. The US is depending on the Mullahs for a great part of their fuel supply.
Also, the United States hands out plenty of contracts to Iranian companies operating in Iraq and Afghanistan….when US companies could do a superior job.
What ever happened to the “embargo”?
Oh,and don’t forget the noble efforts of Kambiz Shahbazi, Henry Kissinger, and others who work tirelessly to import into the United States “teachers” from Iran? These “teachers” are all approved by the Islamic Republic and are dutiful servants of the Ayatollahs in Tehran.
Meanwhile, my country, Israel, is subjected to boycotts, sanctions, and the wrath of the “International Community” for the crime of existing.