Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 59, fighting multiple foreign policy fronts, condemned Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as “unjustified seizure” of two Green tankers in the Persian Gulf. When the U.S. seized Iranian tanker, it’s always justified. When Greek authorities interdicted an Iranian oil tanker last month, the EU said Iran tried to skirt current EU sanctions on the Mullah regime for distribution of its petroleum. Tit-for-tit seizures of oil tanker has been going on for some time since former President Donald Trump re-imposed snap-backed sanctions against Tehran when he cancelled the Iranian Nuke Deal May 8, 2018. Since then, Iran has stepped up its uranium enrichment, producing records amounts of weapons grade fissile material. Trump cancelled the deal after Iran ordered its Yemen Houthi proxies to attack Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure and international airport.
President Joe Biden, 79, has tried his best to reverse most Trump-era policies, working hard with the P5+1 to reinstate the 2015 Obama-era Iranian Nuke Deal. Iran promised in the deal to slow down uranium production to 3.5% for 10 years, in exchange for the U.S. dropping all sanctions on Iran sales and distribution of its oil exports. “Iran’s continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights and freedoms are a threat to marine security and the global economy,” said Blinken, knowing he may be tanking the next version of the Iranian Nuke Deal. Iran’s mischievous Republican Guards, once led by Qassem Soleimani, seized numerous freighters in the Persian Gulf, planting limpet mines when the al-Quds’ force deems it appropriate to retaliate against anyone vying for their authority. Once Trump realized Iran was at war with the Saudis through Yemen’s Houthi rebels, he decided cancel the Nuke Deal.
Biden and Blinken’s foreign policy has been at war with the world, running afoul with China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. Going against Iran is nothing new as the Biden White House that alienates practically everyone. When it comes to the Russian Federation, the Biden administration is essentially at war with Moscow in kraine War. Blinken called on Tehran to immediately release the interdicted tankers’ crew, cargo and vessels, something easier said than done. Iran likes to take hostages to be used later as leverage, rarely releasing them without some sort of ransom payout. Biden and Blinken cam into power trying to reverse everything accomplished by Trump, only to find out, when it comes to China, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, it’s not so easy. Protests all over Iran against Mullah rule have made U.S. relations even more tenuous for Biden and Blinken going forward
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias appealed to Blinken to get Greeks tankers back. But unlike the old days, Biden has burnt so many bridges the U.S. no longer has the foreign policy clout it once had. Blinken walks on thin ice trying to placate the Mullah regime to win back the Iranian Nuke Deal, while recognizing the daily shenanigans that go on in the Persian Gulf. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard swift boats routinely harass shipping in the Gulf, threatening U.S. vessels traveling in international waters. When U.S. Riverine Command Boats were seized together with 10 U.S. sailors Oct. 12, 2016, Iran publicly humiliated the U.S. military. U.S. navy personnel were forced into false confessions, pleading for mercy by their Iranian captors. Former President Barack Obama didn’t have much leverage until Iran finally gave back the boasts and crew two weeks later.
Iran’s decision to interdict Greek-flagged freighters resulted form the U.S. and Greeks seizing an Iranian freighter last month, claiming it violated terms to the U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil distribution and sales. U.S. officials confiscated the cargo onboard, creating more tensions for Greece in the current tit-for-tat retaliation. Iran claims they’ve kept the Greek crews safe onboard the vessels while they prosecute violations of Iranian waterways. Unlike Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the U.S. and EU released the Russia crew on the freighter Pagas last week, inflaming tensions in the Gulf. Biden and Blinken continue to pretend they can put new Iranian Nuke Deal together, knowing that lifting sanctions would give the Iranians all the cash they need to pursue malign activities in the Gulf. When it comes to Iranian trust over U.S. intentions, there isn’t any, creating a retaliatory atmosphere.
Iran wants to return to global oil sales but it won’t give up state-sponsored terrorism, especially paying Yemen’s Houthi rebels to battle Saudi Arabia. Blinken can condemn Iran’s actions in the Gulf but it won’t stop Iran’s Quds forces from wreaking havoc in the Gulf. There’s a good reason Trump cancelled the nuke deal because Iran was never in compliance, secretly enriching uranium to military grade, violating terms of the 2015 nuke deal. Iran never permitted U.N. weapons’ inspectors from going into military sites where more uranium hexoflouride gas was spun into weapons grade material. When it comes to actions in the Persian Gulf, Blinken should be well-aware of Iran’s need to retaliate against the U.S. for the Jan. 3, 2020 drone strike outside Bahgdad that killed Soleimani. Given the Ukraine War, you’d think the White House would want to end the conflict before cutting a deal with Tehran.
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