Tanker piracy: Iran puts Gulf on high alert
Dramatic audio captures moments before Iranian commandos storm a UK oil tanker | LISTEN
Britain was poised last night to join the US in levelling sanctions on Tehran in retaliation for Iranian troops seizing a British oil tanker, ramping up tensions in the flashpoint Persian Gulf.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was to announce a raft of diplomatic and economic measures against Iran after it seized the 30,000-tonne Stena Impero.
In one of the last acts of the Theresa May government before expected new leader Boris Johnson takes over this week, the country will look to freeze Iranian assets and push for further UN and EU sanctions on the country.
In the past month, Iran has tried to seize another British-flagged tanker, been accused by the US of attacking three tankers with limpet mines and had one of its ships seized by British authorities off Gibraltar. Germany and France have decried the Iranian actions. Australian Defence Minister Linda Reynolds spoke out late yesterday, upholding the necessity of freedom of navigation in international waters. “The Australian government is deeply concerned by heightened tensions in the Gulf, and we strongly condemn the recent attacks on shipping in the Gulf of Oman,” she said. “Australia relies on freedom of navigation and the uninterrupted passage of maritime trade.”
While British ships have been warned to avoid the area, the Ministry of Defence is preparing naval escorts for the between 15 and 30 British-flagged tankers that use the waters on a daily basis.
In an audio recording released yesterday, a British officer aboard the frigate HMS Montrose can be heard saying the transit of the Stena Impero must not be impaired under international law.
New audio has been released of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Royal Navy both giving instructions to a UK-flagged tanker before it was "illegally" seized by Tehran.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 21, 2019
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The audio, released by maritime security risk firm Dryad Global, shows how the British navy was unable to prevent the ship’s seizure. An Iranian officer can be heard telling the Stena Impero skipper to change course: “You obey, you will be safe,” adding the ship was wanted for security reasons.
The British officer then tells an Iranian patrol boat captain: “Please confirm that you are not intending to violate international law by unlawfully attempting to board the MV Stena.”
Britain has asked the US to refrain from making inflammatory statements as it seeks a diplomatic solution to the crisis and as London steps back from being seen as totally supporting Washington’s hawkish approach to Iran.
Mrs May’s reluctance to join Operation Sentinel — a planned US-led coalition to escort tankers through the Gulf — has been privately criticised and one of the first actions Mr Johnson will have to deal with is Britain’s stance on Iran. The government has also been attacked by retired admirals for allowing British assets to be so vulnerable.
Britain was drawn into the ongoing crisis in the region on Friday afternoon when two British-linked ships were seized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps while in Omani and international waters and redirected towards Iran. One of the ships, the Glasgow-based, Liberian-flagged Mesdar, was allowed to continue on its way. However the other ship, the Swedish-owned, British-flagged Stena Impero, with 23 crew of Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino nationalities, was seized in a military operation.
Iran released some of the intense footage of Revolutionary Guard troops rappelling from a helicopter on to the tanker while its fast attack boats surrounded it.
HMS Montrose, which had two weeks ago successfully fended off Iranian attack boats from the British Hermitage, was an hour away from the Stena Impero.
The Stena Impero is now anchored at Bandar Abbas, the main base of the Iranian navy.
The capture of the ship was a “tit-for-tat’’ action against Britain, Mr Hunt said. Earlier this month, Britain had used 30 royal marines to seize Grace 1, a fully laden Iranian supertanker in British waters off Gibraltar believing it was heading to Syria in contravention of longstanding EU sanctions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif referred to the detention of the Iranian ship Grace 1, still held in Gibraltar, when he tweeted: “Unlike the piracy in the Strait of Gibraltar, our action in the Persian Gulf is to uphold international maritime rules.
Revolutionary Guard spokesman Ramadan Shair said the Stena Impero was wrongly using an exit lane to enter into the Strait of Hormuz and almost collided with other vessels.
Mr Hunt said Britain wanted to “de-escalate’’ the tensions but confirmed the tanker was seized in Omani waters and forced to sail into Iran, which is “totally and utterly unacceptable’’.
“The Stena Impero was seized in Omani waters in clear contravention of international law,’’ he said.
“It was then forced to sail into Iran.
“This is totally and utterly unacceptable. It raises very serious questions about the security of British shipping and indeed international shipping in the Straits of Hormuz.’’
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