IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DES

An official says Iran will not let attacks on its vessels go unanswered after an Iranian oil tanker was hit by two suspicious explosions in the Red Sea early Friday.

“Piracy and banditry in international waterways which is done with the aim of making shipping lanes for commercial vessels insecure will not go unanswered,” Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said on Saturday.

On Friday, the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) reported that the SABITI tanker had been hit by two separate explosions near the Saudi port city of Jeddah. The blasts caused an oil spill that was stopped shortly after.

Two separate explosions, possibly caused by missile attacks, have hit an Iranian oil tanker near the Saudi port city of Jeddah.

Shamkhani said a special committee has been set up to investigate the attack on the SABITI tanker that was targeted by two missiles off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea. The panel’s report, he said, will be submitted to responsible authorities in order to make a decision.

“By examining the available video images and information gathered [from the incident], the main clues to this dangerous adventurism have been obtained,” Shamkhani added.

The top security official recalled “destructive moves” against other Iranian oil tankers in the Red Sea in recent months, citing the Happiness-1 and the Helm.

Happiness-1 faced “engine failure” off Jeddah on April 30 and was later transferred to the Saudi port city for maintenance. The Saudis initially refused to let the vessel go, demanding some $10 million in maintenance fees before releasing it on July 20.

“Creating insecurity in international waterways will bring out worrying risks for the world economy, the consequences of which will be the responsibility of planners, executives and supporters of such provocative actions,” Shamkhani said.

Tensions have been high in the region after a series of suspicious explosions targeted oil tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year.

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According To Iran News, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi deplored the Friday attack on an Iranian oil tanker in the Red Sea near Saudi Arabia as “dangerous adventurism” and said a probe into the incident is underway.

“Examinations carried out by the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) indicate that the Iranian ship was targeted and damaged twice in about half an hour from a place near the route passed by the oil tanker,” Mousavi said in a statement on Friday.

“Fortunately, the tanker’s crew members have not suffered any injuries and the vessel is in a stable condition,” he added.

The spokesman further expressed concerns over the pollution created in the area due to the oil spill from the damaged tanker and said the responsibility for all consequences of this action, including the severe environmental pollution, lies with the perpetrators behind “this dangerous adventurism.”

“The examination of the details and factors behind this dangerous act is underway and will be announced after reaching results,” Mousavi stated.

According to media reports, the Iranian oil tanker was hit by two suspected rockets on Friday off the coast of Saudi Arabia and oil is leaking from the vessel.

The oil tanker was 60 miles (97km) from the Saudi port city of Jeddah when the incident took place, the reports said.

There was no immediate acknowledgment from Saudi Arabia about the blast.

Friday’s incident came against the backdrop of increased tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia after attacks by Yemeni forces on the kingdom’s oil facilities, with Washington and Riyadh claiming Iran was behind them.

The Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah movement immediately took credit for the attacks, but US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo swiftly accused Iran of being behind the assault, without providing any evidence. Tehran categorically rejected the allegations.

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The first images of an Iranian oil tanker hit in the Red Sea near Saudi Arabia show that the Friday attack has caused no fire aboard the vessel.

The pictures indicate that there is no fire on the Iranian oil tanker named “SABITI” and that the vessel seems to be in a stable situation.

According to media reports, the Iranian oil tanker was hit by two suspected rockets on Friday off the coast of Saudi Arabia and oil is leaking from the vessel.

The oil tanker was 60 miles (97km) from the Saudi port city of Jeddah when the incident took place, the reports said.

There was no immediate acknowledgment from Saudi Arabia about the blast.

Friday’s incident came against the backdrop of increased tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia after attacks by Yemeni forces on the kingdom’s oil facilities, with Washington and Riyadh claiming Iran was behind them.

The Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah movement immediately took credit for the attacks, but US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo swiftly accused Iran of being behind the assault, without providing any evidence. Tehran categorically rejected the allegations.

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Irannews reports: British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero is “free to leave,” Iranian officials said Monday, marking the end of a two-month standoff between Tehran and London over the detained vessel.

But the conciliatory mood may be short-lived. On Sunday, Johnson accused Iran of being behind the September 14 attack on Saudi oil facilities, reported the UK’s PA Media news agency.

“The UK is attributing responsibility with a very high degree of probability to Iran for the Aramco attacks. We think it very likely indeed that Iran was indeed responsible,” he told reporters on a flight to New York.

Johnson said he wanted to “deescalate tensions,” but did not rule out military action if asked to take a role by Saudi Arabia or the United States, PA reported.

Iranian forces captured the alleged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19 amid increasing hostility between Tehran and the West. Twenty-three crew members — none of them British — were on board.

While the tanker was sailing under a UK flag, the company that operates it is headquartered in Sweden. Earlier this month, seven Indian crew members aboard the tanker were released.

The ship was seized two weeks after the UK detained an Iranian oil tanker off the coast of Gibraltar, a British overseas territory on the edge of southern Spain. Gibraltar authorities released that ship in late August, despite eleventh-hour efforts by the United States to halt the move.

Months ago, Iranian oil tanker, Grace 1, has been captured for weeks under UK administration command and was freed weeks later. Oil tension has worsened by the beginning of this year due to US sanctions on Iran economic facilities.

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Britain’s naval forces unlawfully seized Adrian Darya 1 and its cargo of 2.1 million barrels of oil in the Strait of Gibraltar on July 4 under the pretext that the supertanker had been suspected of carrying crude to Syria in violation of the European Union’s unilateral sanctions against the Arab country.

Tehran, however, rejected London’s claim that the tanker was heading to Syria, slamming the seizure as “piracy.”

Right after the illegal seizure, Bolton praised Britain’s move in a tweet, saying, “Excellent news: UK has detained the supertanker Grace I laden with Iranian oil bound for Syria in violation of EU sanctions.”

The Iranian oil tanker, previously called Grace 1, left Gibraltar last week after the Gibraltar government released it despite pressure from the US for the vessel’s continued detainment.

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The tanker’s estimated time of arrival in Mersin is reportedly noon on Aug. 31.

The tanker was impounded off Gibaltrar in July and released over a month later when local authorities rejected a US bid to detain the ship.

Greek Shipping Minister Yiannis Plakiotakis said on August 20 that Greek authorities have not received any formal request from the the tanker to dock at the port of Kalamata.

Despite all US pressures and requests, Gibraltar government eventually ordered the release of the illegally-detained tanker last Sunday .

Iran’s Ambassador to London Hamid Baeidinejad wrote on Twitter that the act of having the Iranian oil tanker renamed is in no relation with skirting the US sanctions, since the tanker is not sanctioned and sails under the aegis of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

Britain’s naval forces unlawfully seized the vessel and its cargo of 2.1 million barrels of oil in the Strait of Gibraltar on July 4 under the pretext that the supertanker had been suspected of carrying crude to Syria in violation of the European Union’s unilateral sanctions against the Arab country.

Tehran rejected London’s claim that the tanker was heading to Syria, slamming the seizure as “piracy.”

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The vessel’s coordinates at Marine Traffic website show that the huge tanker has left the Gibraltar territorial waters and is sailing toward an unclear destination in the Mediterranean.

Britain’s naval forces unlawfully seized the Grace 1 and its cargo of 2.1 million barrels of oil in the Strait of Gibraltar on July 4 under the pretext that the supertanker had been suspected of carrying crude to Syria in violation of the European Union’s unilateral sanctions against the Arab country.

Tehran rejected London’s claim that the tanker was heading to Syria, slamming the seizure as “maritime piracy.”

Gibraltar’s government announced on Thursday that it was releasing Grace 1 supertanker despite pressure from the US for the vessel’s continued detainment. The announcement came just before the US Department of Justice unveiled a warrant for the seizure of the Iran-operated ship.

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Gibraltar’s government announced this week it was releasing the supertanker despite pressure from the US for the vessel’s continued detainment. The supertanker, laden with 2.1 million barrels of oil, was illegally detained by British Marines off the coasts of Gibraltar on 4 July. Iran had condemned UK’s measure as ‘piracy’.

Kharrazi, in his remarks, noted that “we can only confront enemies’ bullying behavior through our resistance.”

He went on to say that Iran will continue its resistance approach as far as the country’s problems are solved.

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Gibraltar’s government announced this week it was releasing the supertanker despite pressure from the US for the vessel’s continued detainment.

The US warrant unveiled on Friday read, “A seizure warrant and forfeiture complaint were unsealed today in the US District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that Oil Tanker “Grace 1,” all petroleum aboard it and $995,000.00 are subject to forfeiture based on violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), bank fraud statute, and money laundering statute, as well as separately the terrorism forfeiture statute.”

The US Justice also alleged that there had been “a scheme to unlawfully access the US financial system to support illicit shipments to Syria from Iran.”

Britain’s naval forces unlawfully seized the Grace 1 and its cargo of 2.1 million barrels of oil in the Strait of Gibraltar on July 4 under the pretext that the supertanker had been suspected of carrying crude to Syria in violation of the European Union’s unilateral sanctions against the Arab country.

Tehran, however, rejected London’s claim that the tanker was heading to Syria, slamming the seizure as “maritime piracy.”

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The current detention order on the vessel expires on Saturday night, the spokesman he added.

Relations between Iran and the UK soared after an Iran-operated oil tanker, Grace 1, was illegally detained by British Royal Marines in Gibraltar on July 4, on accusations that the tanker was carrying oil to Syria in possible violation of the European Union’s sanctions on the Arab country.

Iran condemned the move as “piracy” and called for the immediate release of the tanker, stressing that the tanker was not headed to Syria.

A few days later, on July 19, Tehran impounded a British-flagged ship, Stena Impero, in the Strait of Hormuz for failing to stop after hitting an Iranian fishing boat, a violation of international maritime rules.

Regarding the latest developments over Grace 1, Deputy Head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization Jalil Eslami said earlier today that Iran and UK had exchanged certain documents to pave the way for the supertanker’s release

He noted that Britain is expected to soon free the tanker, saying, “We hope that the problem will be resolved in the near future and that the ship can continue sailing with the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

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