Illustrative image: Wikipedia / Aspahbod
Iran’s naval fleet will continue its presence on the high seas to protect the country’s interests, Iranian Army’s Deputy Commander for Operations Rear Admiral Mahmoud Moussavi said, cited by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on November 18th.
“So long as the presence of the Iranian Army’s fleets is necessary to secure Iran’s interests, the dispatch of the fleets to the high seas will continue,” he said.
He also said that Iran has a strong navy, which should maintain a presence in the high seas, otherwise others would take advantage of its absence. He also claimed that the Islamic Republic plans to dispatch its fleets to the Atlantic Ocean in case of necessity as it has done in the past.
The first time an Iranian naval fleet entered the Atlantic Ocean happened in November 2016, after a port call in South Africa.
Iran’s navy also increased its presence in international waters to protect naval routes and provide security for merchant vessels and tankers. The navy conducts regular patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, guarding merchant containers and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran or other countries, in accordance with international efforts against piracy.
Moussavi also claimed that Iran has managed to make “great achievements” since the victory of the Islamic Revolution despite “cruel sanctions,” emphasizing that “sanctions have never succeeded in preventing our defensive progress.”
He also vowed that the Iranian Armed Forces would continue updating their defense technologies and equipment. He claimed that the Islamic Republic had made significant progress in its defense sector and had presumably attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and hardware.
On November 12th, Moussavi also said that Iran’s armed forces will protect Iranian oil tankers against any threats.
“Iran’s armed forces…are prepared today as in the past to protect our fleet of oil tankers against any threats so that it can continue to use marine waterways,” the Rear-Admiral said.
His words were a response to US claiming that the Iranian ships are a “floating liability” and warned port operators to not allow them to dock. US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook also claimed that Iranian vessels would lose access to international insurance markets under the US sanctions, thus being a risk to ports and canals which allowed them access.
Hook also mentioned that countries and port operations might face repercussions if they facilitate “Iran’s illicit activities.”
Mousavi said that creating hindrances to transportation through international waterways would be unacceptable.
“Iran’s armed forces have the preparedness to protect our commercial fleet…as they have in the past 40 years,” he said.
Mohammad Rastad, head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization, said Tehran would file a complaint next week to the International Maritime Organization over “cruel U.S. sanctions and restrictions on maritime transport.”
There have also been continuous reports of National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) vessels that turn off their transponders to attempt and sail hidden from the US. Reports have been coming in since August 2018, when Reuters reported that Chinese buyers of Iranian oil are starting to shift their cargoes to vessels owned by NITC. China also received a waiver from the newly-imposed US sanctions that target the Islamic Republic’s energy sector and oil exports.
Piracy now added to Coup D’etats, assassinations and murders. Yanki criminal cabal will try to get its way by all means possible. The out of control psychopathic bully of the planet, knows no bounds. Russia, China, Iran and a few others will have their work cut out to put these cut-throats back into their asylum.
My thoughts as well.
US is a rogue pirate criminal failed state and seizing any peaceful nation’s ships at high seas is an ACT OF WAR. Iran should and will respond appropriately if the US morons under their Zionist masters commands follow through with such acts of rogue piracy. Iran is not the only target, if Russia, China and all Zionist free nations don’t respond to such criminality then they would be subjected to the same outlaw behavior. It is time to turn up the heat on US and Zionist criminals in the region from Afghanistan to Morocco. A death of thousand cuts.
Iran has a legitimate concern, I can see this Administration seizing tankers and claiming that it is legal on the basis of compensating terror victims of Iran’s malign activities or some nonsense along those lines. Also these Machiavellians at the very least are issuing threats just to drive the the cost for Iran’s oil shipment to reduce the income they get for engaging in perfectly legitimate commerce.
One day God is going to make us pay at least double what we are robbing from Iran.
Mr Hook needs to remove those rose coloured spectacles he is wearing. The world has moved on since the eighties and the US has moved backwards or stagnated at best. Sovereign states all over, and not just large ones, are finding their own feet. So maybe he won’t get very many to hold aloft the torches for his witch-hunt.
The US has no right to call for such port exclusions unless they openly declare war on Iranian vessels and get their next big mistake over with.
Iranian tankers can be accompanied by smaller inconspicuos Iranian commercial ships equipped with torpedoes and cruise missiles.
They used to arm freighters during WWII, it wouldn’t be hard to fit a missile launcher to a tanker.
Missiles of the Fatheh class should not require much change, truck mounted launchers can be easily installed on ships. Torpedo launchers are easy to accommodate.
The best response is to target US occupation forces in the region.
That would be a good idea if Iranian air defenses were stronger, even now, I think US would be hard pressed to do anything of military significance against Iran in the Persian Gulf, my comments pertained to defending oil tankers on open seas.
The mighty Iranian Navy strikes fear in all of us that travel the high seas. As I recall Iran doubled it’s Navy from 10 to 20 Jet (Ski)s. Unfortunately with the sanctions Kawasaki is prohibited from shipping the pre-paid order for the additional 10.
Cannot wait to see an Iranian jet ski take on one of those US Destroyers. Epic battle!
I bet you can’t wait for the mighty US Navy to shoot down another Iranian passenger plane, all those babies bodies floating in the sea really warms your heart.
That was back in 1988 when Iran ordered the flight to go right over the ship. The US warned the plane repeatedly and then fired two missiles. This was an unbelievable tragedy. Iran has not abandoned their tactic of threatening US military assets to create another tragedy so you are right it will only be a matter of time until some miscalculation results in unnecessary death.
The bigger they are the harder they fall.
Taffy3 all the way baby!
Zumwalt class?
you might be unpleasantly surprised zionist :)))
Doubt it terrorist :@
Believe it, dumbass!!!
https://youtu.be/tMe3WDmxBEI
I see everyone in the defensive against USA;
Russia, China, N. Korea, Iran, EU, Africa, Latin-America, Balkan, Philipines, UN. No one striking openly against. Maybe its the media, maybe something is going on behind, but the picture is depressive everywhere.
“Iranian ships would loose access to international insurance markets under US sanctions”. Would be interesting to know if China and Russia face that same obstacle, and how they have or will overcome it.
When evidence is placed before American eyes that the CIA isolates and tortures its own, inorder to cover up petty crimes by government officers, nobody will believe or work for the CIA, ever again!
There are always sick cruel individuals ready to do dark deeds.
The headline is misleading. Nowhere in the text does it mention any anouncement to seize Iran’s tankers.
Bolton, Trump’s Thieving Pirate, with apologies to Bluebeard and Friends is the driving force behind and person responsible for implementation of Sanctions on Iran together with Pompeo, Nikki Haley, Kushner, the murderous bin-Salman & Trump. All States & Representative of States, all Internationally trading Companies & their Officers and all Organizations purporting to have interest in geopolitics and/or trade that support or enable Sanctions being imposed by the US must be identified and listed in publicly available databases so that those of us who are being bullied into “supporting” the sanctions through withdrawal of choice and/or through blackmail and/or absolute need can see and identify those supporting the Sanctions and thereby exercise our own free will and boycott those people and bodies, those countries, States, International Organizations, Banks and Corporations that enable the Sanctions and stand in solidarity with the Iranian People.