Iran will not be hemmed in by the US and UK

The Americans, joined by the British are trying to create trouble against the Islamic Republic in the Persian Gulf – a waterway which is thousands of kilometers from their coasts and in which they have no right to interfere.

The following is an article in this regard that appeared on the ‘GlobeTrotter’ site, titled: “Iran will not be hemmed in by the US and UK”.

The writer is Vijay Prashad, an Indian historian and journalist, who is chief editor of LeftWord Books and the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He has written several 20 books, including “The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World”.

In late May, the shipping authorities in Panama de-registered Grace I, an oil tanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iranian crude oil around the coast of Africa into the Mediterranean Sea. Having lost its Panamanian flag, the ship was then forced to carry an Iranian one.

The vessel’s de-registration sparked off a serious provocation. Off the coast of Gibraltar, British Marines seized and impounded the ship. The British said that it was headed for Syria, which constituted a breach of European Union sanctions. Iran refuted the claim.

Sanctions and diplomatic pressure on other countries that host Iranian ships have also increased lately. Two other Iranian ships, Bavand and Termeh, recently sat for weeks in Paranaguá, Brazil, when the Brazilian state oil company Petrobras refused to refuel them. This was another direct result of pressure from the United States.

The situation is a complex one. Iran imports US$2 billion of goods annually from Brazil, mainly corn, meat and soy. Iran’s ambassador to Brazil, Seyyed Ali Saqaeyan, told Brazilian officials that if Petrobras continued to deny Iran fuel for its ships, then Iran would source its imports elsewhere. This caused Brazilian traders to pressure their government not to alienate Iran.

In the end, Brazilian Chief Justice Dias Toffoli ordered Petrobras to refuel the ships. The Supreme Court said the ships have a contract with a Brazilian firm, Eleva Química, which is not subject to US sanctions. The two ships, along with three others, Daryabar, Delruba and Ganj, have been carrying urea to Brazil before returning to Iran with corn.

Pressure from the United States has resulted in Panama removing its flag from 59 vessels that are linked to Iran or Syria. A ship without an international flag cannot buy insurance, which means that it has to take on a different flag almost instantly. The United States has also pressured countries such as Sierra Leone and Togo not to allow their flags to fly on vessels that are part of Iran’s oil export trade. Thanks to American pressure upon insurance companies, ships carrying an Iranian flag have great difficulties obtaining insurance.

Ships with Iranian flags are also on the radar of customs officials who have been asked to subject them to more rigorous scrutiny. This delays their journeys and raises the cost of transporting Iranian oil.

Recently in his Friday Prayer Sermon in Tehran, senior religious leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami said Britain’s actions off the coast of Gibraltar, at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, reminded Iran of Britain’s colonial history. Britain, he said, is a “cunning and colonial fox.”

Also, the chairman of Iran’s parliamentary National Security Committee, Hojjat al-Islam Mojtaba Zonnour, said the actions of Britain should be described as “bullying and piracy.”

Last month, Iran detained Stena Impero, an oil tanker flying under the British flag for violating international navigational and trying to flee after colliding with an Iranian fishing trawler in the Hormuz Strait. Stena Impero and its crew of 23 were taken to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.

Iranian coastal guards also boarded MV Mesdar, a British ship sailing under the Liberian flag. Iran said it intervened with MV Mesdar because it steered off course toward the Iranian coast. A few hours later, MV Mesdar was allowed to proceed.

Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations sent a letter to the UN authorities offering Iran’s view of the Stena Impero incident. The Iranians said the tanker collided with an Iranian fishing boat, seriously injuring some of the smaller vessel’s crew. Iranian authorities had radioed the Stena Impero, which ignored its warnings and sailed away from a course suggested by the Iranian authorities. Iran said it was conducting an investigation of the collision, and released the audio of the radio talk with Stena Impero.

Stena Impero’s owners tried to deny the account, as did the British government. The ship is owned by a Swedish-based firm, Stena Bulk.

The British navy has lately begun to intrude into the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman. The UK government has said that all British merchant ships will now be escorted by frigates.

The United States is leading a process to create a naval force to patrol the Strait of Hormuz. The US has said it will send “command and control” ships to coordinate other nations’ naval escort vessels. As the Strait of Hormuz becomes ever-more militarized, it is likely that Britain will work in tandem with the US.

The so-called international coalition assembled by the US is not without cracks. The Japanese, for instance, have said they will not participate in the US-led military operation. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan wanted to reduce tensions and to avoid inflaming the situation. Others in Asia agree.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said, “The main responsibility for protecting the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf is mainly with Iran and neighboring countries,” mainly Oman. Rouhani is also reported as saying that if other countries tried to create tension, “they will receive a proper response from Iran.”

Rouhani made this comment as his special envoy to France, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqhchi, met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to insist that Iran would not allow any interventions that disturb operations in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Brigadier-General Hossein Dehqan told Qatar’s al-Jazeera, “Any change in the status of the Strait of Hormuz will open the door to a dangerous confrontation.”

Iran is clearly not prepared to back down over asserting its role in the vital, 21-nautical-mile-wide sea strait, through which passes around a fifth of the world’s oil. At a recent gathering of foreign ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement in Caracas, Venezuela, it was made clear that most countries want to avoid seeing the flashpoint explode into open war.

Iran, which cannot afford to be hemmed in by international pressures or actions, is now being creative with its shipping, as is evident by its firm maritime policies.

AS/ME