Supreme Court Justice Toffoli Orders Petrobras to Supply Fuel to Iranian Ships

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The presiding Justice of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Justice Minister Dias Toffoli, ordered Petrobras to supply fuel to two Iranian ships that have been stranded for almost fifty days in the port of Paranaguá, in Paraná State.

The decision was made on Wednesday night, July 24th. In the decision, the Justice factored in “potential damage to primary interests linked to national sovereignty, administrative order, and the economy.”

The controversial refusal to fuel led Iran’s ambassador to Brasília, Seyed Ali Saghaeyan, to issue harsh statements last Wednesday threatening to suspend imports of Brazilian products unless the issue was solved.

In the imbroglio, Eleva, the company in charge of the vessels, had its supply request denied in the lower court, but appealed to the Paraná Appellate Court (TJ-PR) and secured an order for the supply to be carried out within 72 hours under penalty of a fine. The federal government appealed, and the case went to the Supreme Court.

On July 10th, Toffoli suspended the TJ-PR ruling until the Federal Prosecutor Office (PGR) and Petrobras could express their opinion. In a statement sent to the STF last Friday, the PGR opined that Petrobras should not be forced to supply the ships.

On the same day, Petrobras confirmed that it had not supplied fuel for Iranian ships loaded with corn in the port.

According to the state-owned company, “the Iranian shipping company and the Iranian company that owns the vessels are sanctioned by the United States.” Petrobras claimed that it would be running the risk of being included in the same list were it to supply the ships. Justice Toffoli’s decision ordering the refueling rebutted those claims.