British Navy To Iran: Back The Hell Off

[Boats]

British Navy To Iran: Back The Hell Off
By: ED MORRISSEY - HotAir - July 11, 2019
RE: https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morri...back-hell-off/

Photo link: https://hotair.com/wp/wp-content/upl...sh-frigate.png

Do the Iranians want a war? They nearly got one overnight, not with the US but with the United Kingdom. The British navy aimed its guns on several Iranian ships attempting to block passage through the Strait of Hormuz of a British oil tanker, which caused the smaller ships to retreat:

Video link: https://youtu.be/Xl5qzkVZ6FM

Three Iranian vessels attempted to stop a British tanker traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, Britain said Thursday, in the latest escalation between Iran and Western powers in recent weeks.

A British navy ship, the HMS Montrose, “was forced to position herself between the Iranian vessels and [the tanker] British Heritage and issue verbal warnings to the Iranian vessels, which then turned away,” the British government said in a statement.

“We are concerned by this action and continue to urge the Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region,” the statement said.

Last month, the Iranians shot down a US drone operating in international airspace, which nearly prompted a military strike in retaliation. The Iranians have now apparently either shifted their focus or broadened it, also in retaliation. The UK seized a Panamanian oil tanker carrying Iranian crude off the coast of Gibraltar, accusing Tehran of violating EU sanctions by selling oil to Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. Iran called it “an act of piracy” and threatened “consequences” for the seizure.

This seems to be the UK’s reminder that even consequences have further consequences. For the moment, anyway, the Iranians got the message. However, they clearly want to start a fight in the Strait of Hormuz with someone, even though it’s becoming clearer that the US and the UK are willing to shoot back now after the attacks on other shipping in the Hormuz area.

Iran may not have much choice. Their economy is collapsing again under the weight of US sanctions, and their population is growing restive. The Trump administration announced yesterday that more sanctions are coming now that Iran has openly admitted breaking past the restrictions on uranium enrichment:

The United States on Wednesday accused Iran of “nuclear extortion” and threatened further sanctions against Tehran, which has begun stockpiling and enriching uranium beyond the limits set in the 2015 accord that President Trump has abandoned.

The United States called an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on Wednesday in response to the Iranian moves, while a senior French envoy was in Tehran exploring ways to reopen negotiations on compliance with the deal.

Iran called this “warfare“:

Iran says it’s prepared to return to “full implementation” of its landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, but only when matched by the full compliance of “all participants.” …

Iran’s representative to international organizations in Vienna, Kazem Gharib Abadi, told a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency Wednesday U.S. actions were “neither legitimate nor legal” and should not be accepted by the international community.

He says that the “costly” consequences of American sanctions mean “they should be seen as weapons of warfare.”

Iran had better be careful before they find out what warfare actually would look like against the US and UK. They’ve been testing Western responses in the Hormuz area for some time, and the British navy gave the Iranians something to think about. If the mullahs are getting nervous about the misery of their population, then they should rethink their nuclear and ballistic missile programs as well as their support for Iranian proxy terror networks in the region.

TAGS:EUROPEAN UNION - IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL - SANCTIONS- UNITED KINGDOM- UNITED STATES

[Boats]

Royal Navy’s HMS Montrose Defeats Iranian Attempt to Seize Oil Tanker in Strait of Hormuz
By: Oliver JJ Land - 7-11-19
RE: https://www.breitbart.com/europe/201...ze-oil-tanker/

Photo link: https://media.breitbart.com/media/20...SE-640x480.png

A British frigate positioned itself between three Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats and an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf overnight Wednesday, forcing the Iranian craft to withdraw.
The Isle of Man registered British Heritage tanker had been transiting the Persian Gulf and entering the narrow Strait of Hormuz, one of the most strategically important, crowded, and contested waterways on earth when it was ordered into Iranian waters. A Ministry of Defence spokesman Thursday said three Iranian vessels had been attempting to intercept the British tanker to make it comply.

HMS Montrose, a British frigate of the Type 23 class positioned itself between the tanker and the intercepting craft, and forced the Iranians to withdraw. A British government statement claims the warship issued verbal warnings, but U.S. news network CNN cited military contacts “with direct knowledge of the incident” which said the frigate trained its deck guns on the Iranian craft.

The report further claims the incident was captured by a U.S. aircraft observing the incident recorded footage of the confrontation.

The Ministry of Defence said Thursday:

Contrary to international law, three Iranian vessels attempted to impede the passage of a commercial vessel, British Heritage, through the Strait of Hormuz.

HMS Montrose was forced to position herself between the Iranian vessels and British Heritage and issue verbal warnings to the Iranian vessels, which then turned away.

We are concerned by this action and continue to urge the Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region.

Iran has denied responsibility for the incident, with a statement claiming “there were no clashes with alien boats, especially English boats”, reports the Associated Press.

[Boats]

UK Navy Stops Iran from Blocking BP Oil Tanker Leaving Persian Gulf
By: Tim Ross & Anthony DiPaola - Insurance Journal - July 11, 2019
RE: https://www.insurancejournal.com/new.../11/531879.htm

Photo link: https://www.insurancejournal.com/app...uz-580x356.jpg

The British navy intervened to stop Iran from blocking a commercial oil tanker leaving the Persian Gulf, heightening friction just as European nations scramble to salvage a landmark nuclear accord with the Islamic Republic.

The BP Plc-operated British Heritage, which can carry as much as 1 million barrels of oil, was attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping chokepoint at the mouth of the world’s largest oil-producing region, when three Iranian vessels tried to impede it, according to a U.K. government statement. Iran denied the charge.

The incident marks an escalation in a row that started after U.K. forces seized a tanker off Gibraltar earlier this month that was suspected of carrying Iranian oil to Syria. Iran denied the vessel was heading to Syria and vowed to retaliate. Britain’s action opened up a wrangle that could drag on for months and complicate efforts to contain a brewing crisis over Iran’s compliance with a 2015 deal meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

The Royal Navy’s HMS Montrose, which was escorting the tanker, “was forced to position herself between the Iranian vessels and British Heritage and issue verbal warnings to the Iranian vessels, which then turned away.”

“We are concerned by this action and continue to urge the Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region,” the statement said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps denied trying to impede the British tanker but said its forces could act fast if ordered to do so. “If it receives an order to seize foreign ships, naval forces can act fast, with determination and without hesitation within the geographic scope of its mission,” the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Benchmark Brent crude was 13 cents higher at $67.14 a barrel in London trading at 7:07 a.m. local time. Oil has been rallying since the middle of last week as tensions surrounding Iran stoke concerns crude flows may be disrupted.

The British Heritage was able to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz and was now sailing along the Omani coast, according to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

Thursday’s developments spotlight, however, the mounting risks to shipping in a region that exports about a third of all seaborne petroleum. BP had been keeping the British Heritage empty inside the Gulf, near Saudi Arabia, rather than risk its seizure by Iran in a tit-for-tat retaliation, a person familiar with the matter said Monday.

Six tankers have been attacked outside the Gulf since early May, with the U.S. blaming Iran for the incidents, a charge Tehran denies. Insurance costs for covering tankers and their cargoes jumped as much as tenfold in the wake of the incidents. Some owners were initially wary of sending vessels to the region, although that reticence appears to have subsided.

The prospects of a showdown between the U.S. and Iran have spiked since the Trump administration quit the multiparty nuclear accord with Iran a year ago and re-imposed sanctions. In early May, the U.S. tightened penalties on buyers of Iranian oil prompting Iran to begin scaling back its commitments under the deal.

Iran said this week it’s enriching uranium beyond the agreed cap and would gradually roll back compliance unless European signatories find ways to ensure it can sell its oil and access the global financial system.

Iran is producing oil at the slowest clip since 1986, making U.S. sanctions as effective as the devastating Iraq-Iran war that ended more than 30 years ago. The measures have hit the currency, fueled inflation and hobbled growth.

UK Friction
The stand-off also comes at an awkward time for Britain which, along with its European allies, is trying to keep the nuclear deal alive, but is also relying on Trump’s White House to clinch a trade deal after Brexit.

U.K. special forces assisted the authorities in Gibraltar, an independently governed U.K. territory south of Spain, when they seized a super tanker on July 4 over allegations that it was carrying Iranian oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions.

The British Heritage was meant to load crude from Iraq before sailing onto Europe but a person with knowledge of the matter said BP elected not to lift the cargo because of concerns about the wider political situation. The ship didn’t have oil on board when it left the region, the person said.

There are six vessels operating in the Gulf registered to Britain, or a British Overseas Territory, and five operating under the British flag. In total, they have the capacity to transport almost 9 million barrels of crude.

The incident was originally reported by CNN, which cited two U.S. officials saying Iran had tried to seize, rather than impede, the tanker and order it to change course.

–With assistance from Ladane Nasseri, Karen Leigh, Verity Ratcliffe, Kelly Gilblom, Thomas Pennyand Ana Monteiro.

Photo: Iranian Navy boats take part in maneuvers during the Velayat-90 navy exercises in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. Photographer Ebrahim NorooziAFPGetty Images