Tehran's Guardian Council says seizure of UK tanker was in retaliation for impounding of Iranian ship

[Elfdart]

Just Sheppard being a war fanboy again.

It's the only realistic option to stop Iranian fuckery with UK flagged ships; because the Royal Navy has been reduced by successive British governments to a shadow of its self, to the point that it's hard pressed to maintain 1 to 2 ships near permanently on station in the Persian Gulf.

What CAN be done with the rump Royal Navy is a temporary wartime 'surge' of ships to the Persian Gulf to execute gunboat diplomacy via destroying the IRGC naval forces so they can't be a threat.

The Portuguese navy is even smaller, but the Iranians haven't seized any of their cargo ships. Interesting, no?

If the UK doesn't want to risk their ships, maybe they should quit playing Sancho Panza to Uncle Sam's Don Quixote and get out of the imperialism business for good.

[The Romulan Republic]

Just Sheppard being a war fanboy again.

It's the only realistic option to stop Iranian fuckery with UK flagged ships; because the Royal Navy has been reduced by successive British governments to a shadow of its self, to the point that it's hard pressed to maintain 1 to 2 ships near permanently on station in the Persian Gulf.

What CAN be done with the rump Royal Navy is a temporary wartime 'surge' of ships to the Persian Gulf to execute gunboat diplomacy via destroying the IRGC naval forces so they can't be a threat.

The Portuguese navy is even smaller, but the Iranians haven't seized any of their cargo ships. Interesting, no?

If the UK doesn't want to risk their ships, maybe they should quit playing Sancho Panza to Uncle Sam's Don Quixote and get out of the imperialism business for good.

I will note that while America's actions have fed overall tensions in the region, I believe the UK was actually enforcing EU sanctions when it seized and Iranian ship, leading to this incident.

I agree that the UK should not follow the US into an ill-conceived and unnecessary and likely catastrophic war with Iran, but let's be clear about the facts here.

[Highlord Laan]

Just Sheppard being a war fanboy again.

It's the only realistic option to stop Iranian fuckery with UK flagged ships; because the Royal Navy has been reduced by successive British governments to a shadow of its self, to the point that it's hard pressed to maintain 1 to 2 ships near permanently on station in the Persian Gulf.

What CAN be done with the rump Royal Navy is a temporary wartime 'surge' of ships to the Persian Gulf to execute gunboat diplomacy via destroying the IRGC naval forces so they can't be a threat.

The Portuguese navy is even smaller, but the Iranians haven't seized any of their cargo ships. Interesting, no?

If the UK doesn't want to risk their ships, maybe they should quit playing Sancho Panza to Uncle Sam's Don Quixote and get out of the imperialism business for good.

So, it's "imperialism" to enforce EU laws in EU waters now.

Elfdartland is a weird place.

[Elfdart]

So, it's "imperialism" to enforce EU laws in EU waters now.

EU laws don't apply to non-EU countries and "EU waters" don't allow for the interdiction of ships that aren't breaking international law. If a state has the right to hijack a ship on the grounds that it's passing through a strait in territorial waters, then what Iran just did is legitimate as well.

For the record, when a country is run as such a ridiculous client state for an empire that it's willing to expose its own shipping to retaliation just to please their master, that's imperialism.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

UK decided to let the Iranian tanker go, though the US still wants to seize it.

The Iranian supertanker seized off the coast of Gibraltar last month is expected to leave the British overseas territory tonight.

Hamid Baeidinejad, Iran's ambassador to the UK, revealed on Twitter that the vessel would be leaving, although did not specify a time.

It is unclear where the boat, which was arrested for allegedly attempting to break EU sanctions by delivering oil to Syria, will now head.

Gibraltar rejected a renewed request from the US to not release the Grace 1, which has now been renamed Adrian Darya.

On Thursday, Gibraltar announced that the vessel was free to leave after it was seized more than a month ago.

The US issued a warrant on Friday to seize the vessel, a day after Gibraltar lifted the ship's detention.

It is currently still at anchor off the coast of Gibraltar, along with the 2.1 million barrels of oil it was accused of trying to deliver to Syria.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Iran finally let our tanker go:

A British-flagged oil tanker has left Iran two months after it was seized for allegedly breaking maritime rules.

Stena Bulk - Stena Impero's Swedish owner - said on Friday it was on the move from the Bandar Abbas port, where it had been anchored since 20 July.

The vessel was taken in the Strait of Hormuz two weeks after an Iranian tanker was held off Gibraltar with the help of the UK Royal Marines.

Tehran has strongly denied that it took the ship as an act of retaliation.

Erik Hanell, CEO of Stena Bulk, said the Stena Impero would head to Dubai, where the crew would be debriefed and receive medical checks.

"Full support will be offered to the crew and families in the coming weeks to assist with their recovery," he said in a statement.

Link.

[Enigma]

Iran promised not to send tanker to Syria only to end up sending it to Syria.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Satellite images released on Thursday show that a once-detained Iranian-flagged oil tanker sitting off the coast of Syria has been approached by a smaller Iranian tanker, an indication the ship could be preparing to transfer its cargo.

Images released by Maxar Technologies show the Jasmine alongside the Adrian Darya 1 on Wednesday, with mooring lines between them and a crane deployed on the larger vessel.

The Adrian Darya 1, formerly named the Grace 1, was detained off the British overseas territory of Gibraltar in July while carrying $130 million in crude oil, on suspicion of breaking European Union sanctions by taking the oil to Syria. Gibraltar later released the tanker, after it said Iran promised the ship wouldn't go to Syria.

The ship later sailed toward the Syrian coast, angering Britain.

The oil shipment website TankerTrackers.com said on Twitter on Tuesday that the Adrian Darya 1 was “postured in an STS (Ship-to-Ship) formation with a smaller Iranian-flagged Handymax (350K barrel capacity) tanker,” the Jasmine. It noted this was “not a confirmation of any oil transfer just yet. We'll compare imagery later.” The image it posted showed the two vessels off the coast of Syria.

However, the website said on Wednesday it was ending its public coverage of the Iranian tanker’s movements due to a tweet by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who used the image of the two tankers in a tweet of his own.

Pompeo tweeted that despite Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad “Zarif’s promise to the UK that the #AdrianDarya1 would not deliver oil to Syria, it is now transferring oil off the Syrian coast. Will the world hold Iran accountable if this oil is delivered to Syria?”

There was no official reaction from Iranian authorities.

Tension has been high between Tehran and Washington following President Donald Trump's decision over a year ago to unilaterally pull out of a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. The U.S. has imposed sanctions that have kept Iran from selling its oil abroad and have crippled its economy. Iran has since begun breaking terms of the deal.

The tensions have led to the seizure of ships at sea. After the seizure of the Iranian-flagged tanker off the coast of Gibraltar, Iran seized the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero in July as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all traded oil passes.

Iranian authorities released the Stena Impero last Friday.