Page 7 - MEOG Week 29

MEOG Commentary MEOG
certainly set to be defeated by predecessor Boris Johnson in the battle to become the next British PM – said there would be “serious consequences” if Iran does not release the British- agged tanker. He said the UK was not threatening military action but would take a robust approach to the situation.
In a statement, Hunt said: “I’m extremely concerned by the seizure of two vessels by Ira- nian authorities in the Strait of Hormuz. I will shortly attend a CoBr [national security] meet- ing to review what we know and what we can do to swi ly secure the release of the two vessels – a British- agged vessel and a Liberian- agged ves- sel. ese seizures are unacceptable. It is essen- tial that freedom of navigation is maintained and that all ships can move safely and freely in the region.”
e IrGC, an elite force under the command of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khame- nei said they seized the Stena Impero at the request of Iranian authorities for “not following international maritime regulations [by dri ing out of an international shipping lane]” state tel- evision reported.
To the anger of Tehran, Trump has listed the IrGC as a foreign terrorist organisation.
e IrGC-a liated news agency Tasnim said the tanker was seized for breaking three regu- lations: shutting down its GPS; sailing through the exit of the Strait of Hormuz rather than the entrance; and ignoring warnings.
Gibraltar, meanwhile, was granted the power
on July 19, to detain Iran’s Grace 1 oil tanker for another month.
“Caught in between”
“ is tanker is important because it is part of the wider tensions between Iran and the United States,” Sanam Vakil, senior research fellow at Chatham House in London, told reuters. “ e eU 3 – including the UK – are caught in between, trying to save the Iran nuclear deal while also managing pressure from Washington,” she added, referring to Germany, France and Brit- ain. “So there is a big divergence of strategy on how to proceed and this tanker is a re ection of those divergences.”
The IrGC made a first attempt to capture a British tanker six days a er the Grace 1 was seized. British warship HMS Montrose inter- vened to drive o three Iranian military vessels that were attempting to divert the tanker, the British Heritage, towards Iranian territory.
e US has made repeated o ers to negoti- ate its nuclear deal and sanctions stand-o with Iran with the Iranian leadership, but Tehran has each time dismissively said Trump is not a man that would be worth talking to unless the “illegal sanctions” were dropped rst.
The reach of the aggressive US sanctions regime directed at Iran was demonstrated on July 19 with reports that two Iranian cargo ships loaded with 110,000 tonnes of maize were unable to depart Brazil because a Brazilian state-owned company was refusing to refuel them.™
Iran’s IRGC forces surrounded the Stena Impero before boarding and guiding the vessel to Bandar Abbas.
Source: Tasnim
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