Making good on his promise to seize a British tanker in response to the British seizing Iranian supertanker Grace July 4, 79-year-old Ayatollah Khamenei ordered his paramilitary Republican Guard Corps [IRGC] to retaliate. Only yesterday, 73-year-old President Donald Trump claimed the U.S. navy shot down an Iranian drone in the Persian Gulf getting too close to the USS Boxer amphibious assault ship. Iranian authorities denied that the U.S. shot down any Iranian asset, calling the story bogus. It wasn’t fake news when Iran shot down a U.S. Global Hawk surveillance drone June 20 in the Persian Gulf, prompting Trump to consider retaliation. Today’s IRGC seizure of the British tanker Stena Impero raised the stakes with Trump likely to intervene. Trump warned Iran to not touch any U.S. or allied ship in the Persian Gulf or Strait of Hormuz or face possible U.S. military intervention.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the tanker “was led to the shore and handed over to the organization to go through the legal procedure and required investigations,” said Iranian state TV. Swedish owners of the British tanker said the vessel came under attack from the IRGC’s armed swift-boats, eventually capturing the vessel. Stena Bulk and Northern Marine Management said it “can confirm that . . . our management vessel Stena Impero was attacked by unidentified small crafts and a helicopter while transiting the Strait of Hormuz while the vessel was in international waters,” attesting to Iran’s grossly illegal hijacking. When British marines seized Iranian supertanker Grace July 4, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised retaliation. British authorities interdicted supertanker Grace under authority of the European Union, commissioned to uphold EU sanctions on Iranian oil sales.
Trump has little choice now but to stop Iran from its malign activities in the Persian Gulf, especially in the narrow Strait of Hormuz whether IRGC chief Hossein Salami promised to shut down the Strait of Hormuz through which 29% of the world’s crude oil passes. ”We are presently unable to contact the vessel which is no tracking as heading north to Iran,” Stena Bulk and Northern Marine Management said. Democrats in Congress blame Trump for ratcheting-up tensions with Iran for canceling U.S. involvement in the July 15, 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] aimed at curtailing Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. Trump cancelled the agreement, re-imposing sanctions to stop Iran’s proxy war against Saudi Arabia, supplying arms-cash-missile-drones to Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Trump had no choice but to find some leverage to stall Iran’s malign activity.
There’s zero proof that Iran complied with the JCPOA, despite the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] saying so. IAEA officials didn’t include inspections of Iran’s secret military sites where intelligence officials believe Iran continues to enrich uranium. “The US will continue to work with our allies and partners to defend our security and interests against Iran’s malign behavior,” said National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis. U.K.-Flagged, Swedish-owned supertanker Stena Impero was last heard from off Larak Island at 9:30 PM local time [1530 GMT]. British government officials have worked feverishly to find out the whereabouts of their tanker, knowing it’s in Iranian hands. “Urgently seeking further in formation and assessing the situation following report of an incident in the Gulf,” British authorities fear for the worse.
Seizing British tanker Stena Impero, Iran has pushed the Mideast to the brink, knowing that Trump can’t sit idly by while Iran engages in more malign activity. Without a decisive military response, Iran will continue to bully Western powers, trying to transport petroleum through international shipping lanes. Iran’s IRGC has intimidated and harassed global commerce in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, requiring the U.S. and U.K. to defend its assets. Trump showed restraint after Iran shot down a U.S. unmanned Arial Vehicle [UAV]. June 20 but now faces some tough choices. Showing restraint emboldened Iran to hijack the British-flagged, Swedish-owned tanker. Iran actually seized two tankers in two days, one British and one from the U.A.E. No global shipping company can feel safe in the Persian Gulf while Iran’s IRGC terrorizes the region, interfering with global commerce.
Iran’s latest hijacking shows the Persian Nation has no compunction about threatening Israel, funding a proxy war against Saudi Arabia and planting Limpet mines on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. Without a forceful U.S.-British military response, Iran will continue to violate international airspace and waterways. Ayatollah Khamenei can accuse the “vicious British” of “piracy,” but the international community knows what Iran is up to. Whatever happened yesterday with the USS Boxer and the Iranian drone, there’s a real crisis with Iran harassing global shipping companies trying to get their goods through the Persian Gulf. No country can accept Iran’s outlaw behavior, regardless of how Iran sees itself as the victim. Hijacking licensed oil tankers or planting Limpet mines in the Gulf, Iran has violated every known maritime law. Trump knows Iran can’t be placated any longer.
