The first of five Iranian tankers carrying fuel for gasoline-starved Venezuela approached the South American country’s waters on Saturday afternoon (Sunday morning Malaysia time), despite a US official’s warning that Washington was considering a response to the shipment.

As of 4:51pm local time (4.51am Malaysia time), the tanker - named Fortune - was passing north of the neighbouring dual-island Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.