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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The US Navy on Monday said it had been “harassed” by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and that Iranian sailors and the Royal Navy had come to the rescue of a vessel in the critical Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement, the U.S. Navy said three fast-attack patrol vessels carrying armed forces approached a merchant ship at close range on Sunday afternoon. It provided a black-and-white image that it said was taken from above a U.S. Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon, showing three small boats approaching a civilian vessel.
The US Navy guided-missile destroyer HMS McFaul and the Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster responded to the incident, with Lancaster launching its helicopters.
“About an hour later, a merchant vessel confirmed that a fast attack craft had departed from the scene, and the situation calmed down,” the navy said. “Merchant ships continued to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without incident.”
Twenty percent of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
The Navy did not identify the vessels involved, but ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by the Associated Press showed that the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier Venture erratically navigated the Channel at the time of the incident. shown to have changed. Its location also coincided with information about the incident given by British Sea Trade Operations, a British military operation to monitor traffic in the area. The ship also resembled images released by the Navy.
The ship’s registry manager, Trust Valkers of Athens, Greece, did not respond to a request for comment.
The Iranian state-run IRNA news agency later reported that Rear Admiral Abbas Golamshahi claimed the ship only responded to a distress call from the ship. However, a signal was issued after armed men were seen on board a small vessel that the Navy had identified as belonging to the Guard.
The latest incident comes after a series of Iran-involved maritime disasters following the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018.
U.S. allegedly seizes Suez Rajan, a tanker affiliated with a U.S. private equity firm that allegedly transported sanctioned Iranian crude oil off Singaporepossibly leading to Tehran’s recent seizure of the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Advantage Sweet.. The ship transported Kuwaiti crude oil for energy company Chevron Corporation of San Ramon, California.
Authorities have denied the Suez Rajan has been seized, but it is now off Galveston, Texas, according to vessel tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, Iran separately seized the Panamanian-flagged tanker Niobi, which left the dry dock in Dubai, United Arab Emirates., bound for Fujairah on the east coast of the UAE. Although it carried no cargo, S&P Global Market Intelligence data confirmed by The Associated Press showed that the Niovie received oil from the vessel then known as the Oman Pride in July 2020. It is shown.
In August 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department accused the Oman Pride and its associates of being “involved in an international oil smuggling network” that supports the Quds Force, the Defense Force’s expeditionary force operating throughout the Middle East. Sanctioned. Emails purportedly published online by Wikilan, a website that solicits leaked documents from the Islamic Republic, suggest that cargo carried on the Niovi was sold to Chinese companies without authorization.
A satellite image analyzed by the Associated Press shows two ships anchored off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran..
The recent seizures have put new pressure on the United States, which has long ensured the security of the Arab Gulf states. The United Arab Emirates claimed last week that it had “withdrawn its participation” in a joint naval command called the Joint Naval Command, but said the U.S. Navy was still in the group. Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command said on Saturday that the commander visited the region and met with Emirates leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss “shared regional security concerns and We discussed the security partnership between the United States and the UAE.”
Middle East-based naval commanders from the US, UK and France also passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Friday last month on board US warships.This is a sign of Iran’s unified approach to keeping key waterways open after it seized two oil tankers.
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Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.
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