US monitors two Iranian vessels reportedly bound for Venezuela

US security agencies are tracking two Iranian warships whose final destination could be Venezuela, according to US media.

The publication Politico, which cites three people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on its website that both Iran's intention and the cargo of the ships is a mystery to Washington.

According to the account, one of the vessels sailing south along the east coast of Africa is the Makran, believed to be the largest Iranian-made ship with a platform to carry up to seven helicopters. A frigate is also mentioned.

Político added, citing one of its sources, that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's government officials were informed that receiving the vessels would be a mistake. However, Caracas' decision on the matter is not known.

The presence of the warships could pose a challenge to US authority in the region, the report said, and could inflame the debate in Washington over the decision by President Joe Biden's administration to reopen negotiations with Tehran.

Negotiations to try to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal resumed in Vienna on Tuesday, with the hope that there will be a deal to bring Tehran back into compliance and the United States back in. 

Germany, China, France, the United Kingdom, Russia and Iran, the countries that remain in the pact, have been trying since April to reach an agreement in contacts coordinated by the European Union.

The United States, which left the agreement in 2018 during the term of office of the now ex-president Donald Trump, is participating in the contacts indirectly, through intermediaries.

In August last year, under the Trump administration (2017-2021), the United States confirmed the seizure of a shipment of fuel belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) that was destined for Venezuela. The seizure was part of the economic sanctions imposed by Washington on Tehran and Caracas.