Iran announces seizure of South Korean oil tanker

Tehran: On Monday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced the arrest of a South Korean tanker for violating “marine environmental laws,” in a move that comes in light of tension with Washington and the latter’s military movements in the Gulf.

Seoul demanded the launch of the tanker and the release of its 20 crew members, and announced the dispatch of an anti-piracy unit near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The guard said in a statement that his naval force “this morning” “arrested a ship owned by South Korea,” according to a statement released by “Sepah News.” He explained that “this tanker was heading from the port of Jubail in Saudi Arabia, and was arrested after repeated violations of marine environmental laws.”

The website posted a photo taken from the air to stop the ship at sea, showing the tanker and its side, four marine vessels, including three speedboats.

The guard did not specify the place of arrest of the tanker “Hancock Chimi”, with 7,200 tons of “petroleum chemicals” on board.

He confirmed that it is now anchored in the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran, overlooking the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil production passes.

The statement referred to the detention of the crew members of South Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Burmese nationalities.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh stressed that the ship was legally arrested.

“According to the initial reports we received from the local authorities, the issue is technical, and the ship headed for the coast by order of the court due to sea pollution,” he said in a statement.

“The Islamic Republic in Iran, as in other countries, is sensitive to these violations, especially in terms of pollution of the marine environment, and therefore faces (these issues) within the framework of the law,” he added.

The Guard confirmed in its statement that the arrest was made at the request of the Maritime Organization of the Governorate of Hormuz (southern Iran) overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, and based on a signal from the Attorney General of the province.

The Iranian agency “Tasnim” quoted the organization’s deputy director as saying that the ship “caused widespread marine pollution 11 miles off Greater Tunb Island.”

He indicated that the tanker continued to navigate despite warnings from the Revolutionary Guard naval patrols, before it was arrested.

However, the tanker’s operator, DM Shipping (Shipping), denied causing any contamination, according to a statement reported by Korean news agency Yonhap.

Commenting on the arrest, the South Korean Defense Ministry announced the dispatch of an anti-piracy unit to the Gulf.

And he confirmed in a statement that he had “immediately dispatched the Xionghai unit to waters near the Strait of Hormuz shortly after receiving a report on the seizure of our merchant ship by Iran.”

The South Korean Foreign Ministry called for “the speedy release of the ship” and stressed that it had verified the safety of its crew members.

In Washington, a spokesman for the US State Department described the tanker’s arrest as a “clear attempt to blackmail the international community with the aim of easing the pressure of sanctions” imposed on the Islamic Republic. “We add our voice to the voice of the Republic of Korea to demand that Iran release the tanker immediately,” he added.

The disclosure of the seizure of the ship came shortly after Khatibzadeh announced that his country was preparing to receive the Vice Foreign Minister of South Korea, on a visit during which he hopes to solve the problem of financial assets he has in Seoul, and the latter refuses to allow its use in light of the sanctions imposed by the United States on the Islamic Republic.

The spokesman expressed his country’s frustration at the “slowness” in reaching a solution to this problem.

According to the governor of the Central Bank, Abdel Nasser Hemmati, Iran has “deposits of seven billion dollars in South Korea”, of which they cannot “transfer or obtain income, while they ask us to pay the costs” of maintaining them.

The arrest of the two is the most prominent carried out by the naval forces of the Islamic Republic for more than a year, noting that they had previously intercepted or stopped ships crossing the Gulf.

One of the most prominent events was the arrest of the tanker “Stena Impero” flying the UK flag in July 2019. The ship was arrested, accused of colliding with a fishing vessel, and abandoned after about two months.

The arrest comes amid growing tension between Tehran and Washington, coinciding with the first anniversary of the assassination of the Quds Force commander in the Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani, by a US airstrike in Baghdad on January 3, 2020. .

This coincides with next January 20, when President Donald Trump will leave the White House and President-elect Joe Biden will take office.

Tensions have risen in the Gulf in recent years, with Washington, under Trump, adopting a policy of “maximum pressure” against Iran, especially since its decision to unilaterally withdraw in 2018 from the agreement concluded with the major powers on the nuclear program. Tehran and re-imposing harsh sanctions on it.

And Washington, whose Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain, had previously accused Tehran of carrying out “hostile” acts in Gulf waters.

The seizure of the South Korean ship came hours after the US Department of Defense announced that the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz would remain in the Gulf region due to “recent threats” from Iran, after reports indicated that it would return to its base. in the United States in what some considered. An indication of de-escalation.