Iran ‘hijacks’ tanker in Gulf of Oman
Tehran accused of second shipping attack in a week as Britain, US and Israel threaten to strike back
‘They can’t sit calmly in Tehran while igniting the entire Middle East – that’s over’
IRANIAN-BACKED forces were suspected of seizing an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman last night, just days after Tehran was blamed for a drone attack on another ship that killed a British crew member.
The Royal Navy’s UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency warned of a suspected “hijacking” incident near the port of Fujairah in the UAE but did not give further details.
Soldiers reportedly stormed the tanker, believed to be the Asphalt Princess, a Panama-flagged vessel.
The asphalt and bitumen tanker was believed to be travelling to Sohar, a port on Oman’s northern coast, when it was attacked at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz yesterday afternoon.
The incident comes after Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, accused Iran of a “deliberate, targeted, and a clear violation of international law” following a drone attack on the Liberianflagged tanker MV Mercer Street last week. Britain, the US and Israel say they are confident that Iran was behind the attack, which killed a British security guard, and have pledged to retaliate.
The three nations are increasingly concerned over aggressive Iranian actions in the Middle East, and have joined other nations in secret discussions about how to strike back.
A British special forces team is understood to have been sent to the region and there is growing speculation that a cyber attack against Iran is being considered.
Naftali Bennett, the Israeli prime minister, yesterday called for an international response to the Mercer Street attack but said he would be prepared to launch a unilateral strike if an alliance took too long to form.
“They can’t sit calmly in Tehran while igniting the entire Middle East – that’s over,” Mr Bennett said. “We are working to enlist the whole world, but when the time comes, we know how to act alone. Iran knows the price that we’ll exact when anyone threatens our security.”
Mr Bennett did not elaborate on what form Israeli retaliation might take.
Israeli television said the country’s defence and foreign ministers would present “hard evidence” of Iranian complicity in last week’s tanker attack when ambassadors of United Nations security council members meet today. Britain is also expected to send a letter to the security council blaming Iran for the attack on MV Mercer Street. As tensions grew, an Iranian news agency reported last night that talks on releasing Nazanin Zaghari-ratcliffe and other British-iranian citizens held in Iran had been frozen after Tehran said it had abandoned a prisoner exchange deal with the West.
An unnamed Iranian official told the pro-regime news agency Nour that there was no longer any “incentive” to continue negotiations on swapping US and Iranian prisoners. The agency claimed that Iran had also halted the process of releasing Mrs Zaghari-ratcliffe, the British-iranian mother who has been detained since 2016.
The report claimed that Iran had scrapped the talks because Britain had pushed for the release of the environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, who holds both British and American citizenship.
British negotiators are believed to have told their Iranian counterparts that they will reject any deal that does not include the release of Mrs Zaghariratcliffe, Mr Tahbaz, and Anousheh Ashoori, a London businessman. A Government spokesman said: “Iran’s continued arbitrary detention of our dual nationals is unacceptable. We urge the Iranian authorities to release the detainees without any further delay.”
Richard Ratcliffe, Mrs Zaghari-ratcliffe’s husband, said he had spoken with Mr Raab yesterday and had received assurances that the Foreign Secretary was “keen not to leave anyone behind”.
“What the Foreign Secretary said to me is that they felt they had come closer than they had before, but they hadn’t got there,” Mr Ratcliffe said. “And they need to wait to see how the new administration takes office, and see how the next few months go.”
The escalation comes after the election of a new Iranian leader.
Ebrahim Raisi, an ultra-conservative judge who was elected president in June, was inaugurated by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at a ceremony in Tehran yesterday morning.
Mr Raisi is known as a strict hardliner who opposed his reformist predecessor Hassan Rouhani’s policy of building bridges with the West. He has been sanctioned by the US over his alleged role in the massacre of hundreds of suspected militants in Iranian jails in the 1980s. However, analysts say he may be interested in a pragmatic deal with
Iran said reports were ‘suspicious’ and an attempt to create a ‘false atmosphere’ against Tehran
the West if it leads to an end to US sanctions and allows him to address an economic crisis and associated social unrest. In his inaugural speech, Mr Raisi promised to lift “oppressive” American sanctions but would “not tie the nation’s standard of living to the will of foreigners”.
“We believe the people’s economic position is unfavourable both because of the hostility of our enemies and because of the shortcomings and problems inside the country,” he said.
Last night’s apparent hijacking was already causing major disruption to one of the world’s most important shipping routes. Shortly after the UKMTO alert, four vessels in the same area reported that they were “no longer under command”, a nautical expression meaning they were unable to manoeuvre.
British sources told Sky News last night that there was “no British link” to the Asphalt Princess. However, Wendy Sherman, the US Deputy Secretary of State, said the US is looking to the UK to take the lead in formulating a response. “We are letting the British take the lead, both at the UN in terms of what the response would be, as well as any further response,” she told reporters.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are urgently investigating an incident on a vessel off the UAE coast.”
Iran’s foreign ministry said that reports of the Asphalt Princess hijacking were “suspicious” and claimed they were an attempt to create a “false atmosphere” against Tehran.
“[We are] reaffirming our strong commitment to regional stability and maritime security, Iran stands ready to offer assistance in case of any maritime accidents,” said Saeed Khatibzadeh, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, which maintains a navy in the Persian Gulf, denied involvement.
The incidents come amid an escalating nautical “shadow war” between Iran and Israel in which both sides have accused one another of attacking shipping. The Mercer Street is owned by a Japanese company and managed by a subsidiary of the London-based Zodiac Group owned by the Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer. However, it was reported last night that the Asphalt Princess did not have any connection to Israel.
Nato yesterday condemned the Mercer Street attack and said Britain, the US and Romania had all concluded Iran was responsible. “Allies remain concerned by Iran’s destabilising actions in the region, and call on Tehran to respect its international obligations,” a statement said.
It is not the first time this year that Iranian forces are suspected of hijacking a merchant vessel. In January, a South Korea-flagged ship was seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as part of a dispute over funds frozen in South Korea because of US sanctions.