Iran escalates
Iran appears to have seized a British tanker.
This is a relatively recent story, so go there for updates.
A Whitehall source told the Telegraph of the Stena Impero: “It does look like it has been hijacked. Ships don’t follow that pattern. It turned right and straight into Iranian waters. It is really concerning that this has happened.
“It looks on the face of it as though the Iranian Revolutionary Guard have boarded and taken a UK-flagged ship. It appears to be linked to events around the Grace 1 tanker.”
British authorities seized the Iranian Grace 1 supertanker off the coast of Gibraltar on July 4, on suspicion it was carrying crude to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.
The fate of the tanker has been at the centre of escalating tensions between the UK and Iran…
Not one, but two tankers.
We were in London exactly a week ago. Glad we’re home now. Not a city I would like to be in right now.
Charles Lister: “So the “Mesdar” was seized by the #IRGC, but has since been released by #Iran after a “warning” relating to “environmental regulations.”
[Lol]
Its transponder is back on & it’s moving back on course.”
https://mobile.twitter.com/Charles_Lister/status/1152314664526782466
they are trying to get the US involved by screwing with their ‘friend’s
Yep. Particularly those who can’t muster on scene power projection. We’d like to see a large coalition of friendlies putting together a joint fleet to patrol the sea lanes and prevent this shit, but that hasn’t come together yet. Doesn’t mean it won’t though, ‘specially now the wider consequences of the lack come to sight.
The Brits have three ships there. One of them was escorting a ship when it warned off a boat at gun point. Wonder why these weren’t escorted.
“Wonder why these weren’t escorted.”
So are a great many Britons tonight, if the BBC is to be believed. And not a few other observers across the world. It is practically nuts, the lack, right? Who didn’t see this coming who gave it a moments’ reflection? Pathetic effort, is about all we can think.
Long passed rime to settle the score with the taking of our embassy personnel. Bomb Tehran, but first nuke Qom. If we are the great satin, long passed time to demonstrate what the great satin can destroy. Until the radioactive rubble jumps.
See the graphic that Fernandez included in his article at
https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/our-tricky-peace/
Why should we guard the shipment of oil to China with our military?
It is time for others to shoulder the load, or at least not crap on us when we protect their interests. Gratitude and sharing the load are both overdue.
If Iran gets too uppity, we can just mine the Straits ourselves and then sell our oil to the highest bidder. How about them apples?
Gosh, you have to read about it in the Brit press, because ours is too busy chewing its cud on just how racist a tweet by Trump might be.
See this article in The Telegraph about the proposal for Project Sentinel:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/19/us-sought-coalition-navies-protect-ships-amid-iran-tensions/?WT.mc_id=tmg_share_em
Just hours before the two Brit tankers were grabbed, our State Department held a meeting attended by more than 100 foreign diplomats. We were asking for an international effort to patrol the Straits to ensure free passage. We were asking for load sharing. I’ll bet we were given the cold shoulder.
Now our State Department can say: “We told you so.”
A new anti-Iran alliance is formed, US-Britain-Israel, but all the leaders need first to win elections and can not afford to launch a war before that: Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Benjamin Netanyahu. Iran knows that and test the waters escalating provocations before these leaders could ensure their positions of power at home. And Gulf states Arab leaders can not do it themselves without Western powers backing.
As Mike Doran has spelling out in detail for a few weeks now, this action and Iran’s stance in general is far more about pressuring their European partners in the JCPOA to stick to the terms of the agreement favorable to Iran and its pursuit of nuclear weapons than it is about releasing the economic pressure accruing on Iran’s collapsing GDP.
The BBC tells the story (underhandedly) in the late paragraphs of this morning’s account of the dilemma facing Her Majesty’s Ministers: “Iran ‘choosing dangerous path’ over tanker seizure”
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49054586
[…] “Unlike the US, the UK government remains committed to the landmark nuclear deal, which curbs Iran’s nuclear activities in return for the lifting of sanctions tensions.”
[…] “The US Navy has plenty of ships in the Gulf – its powerful 5th Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain – but here lies the problem.
Britain and its EU partners are not on the same page as Washington when it comes to the wider policy of dealing with Iran.
The US has pulled out of the nuclear deal, while Europe is trying to keep it alive.
So there is a reluctance by some on this side of the Atlantic to be identified too closely with a hawkish US posture towards Iran or take any actions that may be interpreted as escalating an already volatile situation.”
Donald Trump engineered this. Plain as day. He’s running rings around European diplomacy and getting what he wants.
What John McCain sang:” Bomb, bomb, bomb-bomb Iran”.
It is very difficult to patrol that Strait. Zoom out on this map and you will see how many ships there are in that area at one time. All Iran has to send a fast boat and a chopper to nab one.
https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9452672
It is unlikely that Iranians will touch any of the ships supply China or India with oil so they have no interest in keeping that area safe for passage.
Trump’s sanctions are working big time. Iran’s economy is tanking because they’ve lost over 80% of their oil exports. They know they can’t last indefinitely under these conditions.
All these actions by Iran can be seen as those of a trapped animal chewing at its own leg and snarling at anyone who approaches to help.
Time is our friend thanks to our wonderful energy sector which was unleashed by Trump. No need for war; just keep the animal penned until he starves.
That’s how a master negotiator negotiates!