Strait of Hormuz - Page 3

Japan’s government said Friday it has decided not to join a U.S. coalition to protect commercial vessels in the Middle East but is preparing to send its own force to ensure the safe shipment of oil to Japan.

(AFP) — The British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero docked in Dubai on Saturday after sailing from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas where it was held for more than two months, according to pool footage and a tracking website.

The presence of foreign naval and land forces creates “insecurity” in the Gulf and they should “stay away”, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday, issuing his warning after the U.S. ordered the deployment of more troops to the troubled region.

Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it joined Australia, Bahrain and the United Kingdom in a US-led maritime coalition to secure the Mideast’s waterways amid threats from Iran after an attack targeting its crucial oil industry.

The Royal Navy warship HMS Montrose has faced 115 confrontations with Iranian forces in the Gulf since the start of July, it was revealed on Monday night.

A fourth Royal Navy warship has been despatched by the UK for patrol duties in the Persian Gulf, in the wake of the capture of the Stena Impero and her 23 crew last month by Iranian commandos.

Iran’s president lamented his recent efforts at diplomacy with the U.S. have come to nothing, saying Thursday “talks are useless” as Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers crumbles further.

The United Kingdom’s Royal Navy and the United States Navy are launching a joint task force to patrol the Strait of Hormuz, weeks after a British vessel was captured by Iranian gunboats in the strategic waterway.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday described American sanctions against him as a “diplomatic failure” by the United States, which he claimed is “all alone in the world today” and unable to form effective international coalitions.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, has fired a shot across the bows of Angela Merkel’s government over its refusal to participate in a mission to protect shipping from Iranian aggression, highlighting how much Americans have sacrificed for the European country.

The Iranian navy on Tuesday rejected “false and incorrect” reports Iran and Russia will hold a joint naval drill in the Persian Gulf within the next few months.

Iran is keen to test the Royal Navy’s resolve as it escorts UK-flagged commercial shipping through the contested waters of the Strait of Hormuz, the commander of a British warship said Wednesday.

The U.S. has requested naval assistance from Germany in the Strait of Hormuz as tensions with Iran escalate, but the political leaders of the European nation have refused to come to the aid of their NATO allies.

South Korea may contribute troops to a U.S.-led maritime security initiative to help protect oil tankers and other commercial vessels from Iranian aggression in the Strait of Hormuz, the Korea Times reported over the weekend.

A Royal Navy warship has arrived in the Persian Gulf ready to accompany British-flagged ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz in the latest escalation of regional tensions after Iran seized a British tanker this month.

Iran on Sunday slammed as “hostile” a UK push for a European-led naval mission to escort tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz, amid heightened tensions over the seizure of foreign-flagged vessels.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during an interview on Thursday that he would “happily” visit Iran for negotiations and would love an opportunity to address the Iranian people directly.

A large British-flagged tanker has transited the Strait of Hormuz accompanied by a Royal Navy frigate in the first such passage since Iran seized a U.K.-flagged vessel last week.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Sunday that Iran’s arguments for seizing a British-flagged oil tanker on Friday are “much more right than those of Gibraltar and London, who are indulging in piracy.”

The United States reportedly offered to organise a joint naval security operation to protect British shipping in the Persian Gulf, but Theresa May turned it down because she “didn’t want to upset the Iranians” or the EU.

British Prime Minister Theresa May will chair an emergency security session on Monday to discuss how to respond to Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran should prepare to be hit by a range of UK sanctions in the aftermath of its seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf, according to media reports.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – In an audio recording released by a maritime security risk firm, a British naval officer can be heard saying that the transit of a British-flagged vessel through the Strait of Hormuz must not be impaired under international law, just before it is seized by Iranian forces.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – A powerful council in Iran said Saturday the country’s seizure of a British oil tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz was in response to Britain’s role in impounding an Iranian supertanker two weeks earlier.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump backed the United Kingdom after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the Islamic Republic is in “big trouble”.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced the seizure of a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

After a week of insisting it merely assisted a vessel in distress by bringing it to a safe harbor, Iran on Thursday admitted its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States – seized a foreign oil tanker and took its crew prisoner.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi denied on Friday any military drone was lost recently and suggested the U.S. instead could have downed its own “by mistake.”

Iran’s state TV claims marine elements of the Revolutionary Guard Corps seized a “foreign vessel” with 12 crew Thursday morning on accusations of smuggling oil.

A report by the Iranian government Wednesday said Britain violated international law this month when it captured the Grace 1 oil tanker, which was taken in international waters off the coast of Gibraltar.

Britain’s Royal Navy is increasing the size of its deployment in the Persian Gulf, with preparations underway to send another warship and an auxiliary support vessel to the region following the attempted hijacking of a British merchantman by Iranian gunboats.

Japan says it has no plans to deploy its military to the Strait of Hormuz, despite reports the United States could have suggested a coalition of allies in the shipping channel that includes Tokyo.

BRUSSELS — European Union nations were looking to deescalate tensions in the Persian Gulf area on Monday and call on Iran to stick to the 2015 nuclear deal, despite the pullout of the United States from the accord and the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on Tehran.

The UK has brought forward deployment plans for the destroyer HMS Duncan and is rushing it to the disputed Gulf region, the Ministry of Defence confirmed Friday.

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. 

Iran’s “filthy enemies” in the U.S. military should gird themselves for attack by deadly “secret weapons,” an Iranian military commander warned Wednesday.