Politics

U.S. Calls on Iran to Release Oil Tanker

“Iran has harassed, attacked, or interfered with the navigational rights of 15 internationally flagged merchant vessels," the U.S. Navy said.

Laurie Mylroie 2023/05/04 12:12

A screenshot of a video showing fast-attack craft from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy swarming Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi as it transits the Strait of Hormuz, May 3, 2023. (Photo: U.S. Navy)

USA US Iran Tehran Vedant Petal

WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24) – Addressing journalists on Wednesday, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Petal called on the Iranian regime to release the oil tanker, along with its crew, which its naval forces had seized early that morning.

“At approximately 6:20 a.m., local time, Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi was seized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN),” U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (USNFCC) said in a written statement.

The oil tanker had left Dubai and was traveling through the Strait of Hormuz to Fujairah, one of the seven emirates that form the UAE. Fujairah lies in the east, on the Gulf of Oman, just north of the country of Oman and across the gulf from Iran.

“A dozen IRGCN fast-attack craft swarmed the vessel in the middle of the strait,” the USNFCC statement said. The IRGCN then “forced the oil tanker to reverse course and head toward Iranian territorial waters off the coast of Bandar Abbas.”

The U.S. Navy’s statement also noted a prior incident, on April 27, when the Iranian Navy “seized Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Advantage Sweet,” as it “transited international waters in the Gulf of Oman.” The tanker was carrying crude oil from Kuwait, headed for the U.S.

The Navy’s statement also explained that over the past two years, “Iran has harassed, attacked, or interfered with the navigational rights of 15 internationally flagged merchant vessels.”

Asked about Iran’s latest action, Patel denounced its “harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional and international waters.” describing those actions as “contrary to international law and disruptive to regional stability and security.”

“We join the international community in calling the Iranian government and the Iranian navy to immediately release the ship and its crew,” Patel affirmed.

Challenged by a journalist who suggested Washington was not doing enough to deter Iranian attacks, whether on U.S. troops or international shipping, Patel affirmed, “We continue to have a number of tools at our disposal to hold the Iranian regime accountable.”

“As recently as last week, we have not hesitated to use those tools,” he stated, “and we will continue to take action.”

Patel, apparently, was referring to the two sets of sanctions that the U.S. imposed on Iran last week. The first set was for Iran’s violent suppression of the protests triggered by the death last September of the young Kurdish woman, Zhina (Mahsa) Amini, while she was detained by Tehran’s so-called “morality police” for not properly wearing her headscarf.

The second set of sanctions was for the wrongful detention of U.S. nationals.

But, of course, those measures did not stop Iran from its second seizure of an oil tanker in six days. Hence the reporter’s question: are you doing enough.

The U.S. has also beefed up its military power. It has sent “bunker-busting” bombs to the region for use by A-10 ground attack airplanes to deter assault by Iran and its proxies on U.S. forces, as The Wall Street Journal reported last week.

That step followed a March 31 announcement that the Pentagon had decided to extend the deployment of the USS George H.W. Bush carrier strike group in order to boost U.S. options for responding to Iranian aggression in the region.

There have not been any attacks on U.S. forces by Iran or its proxies since then. However, it seems that Tehran does not believe that the U.S. will respond in a significant way to its harassment of international shipping and that has continued.