by Nat South for The Saker Blog
British flagged ship with only 23 seafarers onboard of Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino nationality. UK flag, Swedish company. That’s a reflection today of commercial shipping industry for you. All but in name.
Ship operators are already getting cold feet over Brexit, so these latest incidents are going to further undermine operators using the UK as a flag of convenience.
Seizure of commercial ships is just tit for tat idiocy. There were no reasonable grounds for detaining any of the tankers. I am not even going to go down that rabbit hole of when Gibraltar is in the EU or not or the permanent squabble over sovereignty, other to say London seem to move the goalposts when it suits it, made worse by being at the beck and call of Washington. Whim, incoherent. The Iranian response is pure retaliation disguised as lawful action, done for the Iranian tanker seizure in Gibraltar. Likewise, the Gibraltar authorities implemented a new law to be able to seize the tanker https://tathamlaw.com/
and also have recently announced today it would extend the detention for another 30 days. Iran has threatened to retaliate if its ship was not released.
The UK took this threat seriously for a short while, with providing a naval escort for the tanker ‘British Heritage’. There are numerous transits of ships with UK connections and it is impossible for the Royal Navy to escort each one. Nevertheless, Iran knows this and by detaining one, warning others, has given the UK a massive headache. The UK is pretending to play it cool, with just the one additional warship sent to relieve another forward deployed in the region.
What does maritime law say about the right of navigation? Maritime law in this situation seems to refer directly to UNCLOS. UNCLOS is only clear in general terms regarding freedom of navigation and innocent passage. The issue here is down to the level of individual state interpretation of safety, pollution maritime laws and the rights, obligations of coastal states. To add insult, the sad joke is that the US has yet to ratify the treaty, while whining about freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, Arctic, South China Sea & the Persian Gulf.
Using commercial mariners as pawns in some warped geopolitical tussle is disingenuous and disgusting. Well I do have my biases here as someone from the industry.
The UK is aiding the US to increasingly bait Iran into further military operations. And it is working very well, judging by the recent development of ‘Operation Sentinel’ by Centcom‘. https://twitter.com/centcom/
The act by the police in Gibraltar of arresting the Indian Master, as well as the Chief Officer & 2nd officer, in addition to detaining the tanker ‘Grace 1’ has now far-reaching consequences. The crew were accused of violating EU sanctions on Syria. The sanctions are a distinct entity to international maritime law. The US sanctions rely heavily on extraterritorial sanctions, but not the EU ones. Thus, the grounds for seizure are weak and insufficient (both the UK & Iran actions). EU Regulation 36/2012 on sanctions on Syria is referred as the basis for detaining the ‘Grace I’. There’s a a hitch in using this as a justification, since only EU oil exports from Syria to the EU are banned. Not imports from elsewhere. But. Internationally, goods in transit can be seized and the ship can be detained if it stops in European territorial waters. The ‘Grace 1’ was reported to be in territorial waters. The UK knew that this was going to happen, hence the Gibraltar law was adopted the day before the detention.
Back to UNCLOS, this situation is aggravating given the attitude of the US in ignoring international law when it suits it to do so and conversely overplaying international law as a pretext for unilateral actions.
The ‘Stena Impero’, according to the IRGC, was arrested while traversing the Strait of Hormuz “for failing to respect international maritime rules.” It seems to relate to the use of AIS. Now this is really a shaky pretext, given all of the shenanigans going on re AIS in the region and also by Iranians in circumventing the sanctions. The can of worms has been opened, with the real danger of further incremental escalations.
Lastly, there are different shades of grey and so does international maritime law. The problem is when to draw a line re retaliation and preventing incidents from spiraling out of control.
After the UK-flagged tanker seizure, the UK proposed the creation of a EU-led mission to escort commercial ships. This plea for an EU alliance seems to present a less provocative stance towards Iran, compared to joining up with the US. Futile and empty gesture which rather distracts from the crux of the matter, the arrest & detention of the ‘Grace 1’ in the first place. Talk about closing the barn door after the horse is out.
“This plea for an EU alliance seems to present a less provocative stance towards Iran”.
No. It’s the UK attempt to rope Europe into the US plan for Iran. If previous EU history is a guide then the EU will submit to some degree.
The racist, apartheid, Zionazi regime in Tel Aviv wants Iran destroyed, in a New Purim, hence the aggression of the USA and the failed state that is, for now, the UK, and the sly, treacherous, complicity of the EU slave regimes.
Of course it is, subterfuge and more doses of subterfuge. It is being presented as being less provocative in media and official circles, but it also sets the scene for military operations. The US has a long history of such duplicitous activity.
After letting the horse out, the offenders are still able and willing to put the cart in front of the horse, not realizing that said goods can not be transported in this fashion, they refuse to believe this is a problem.
What does international law say about the unilateral imposition of strangulation level sanctions on Iran?
Is it not a declaration of war?
How many Brits are dying in hospitals because Iran is preventing them receiving medicine? None.
Do you know how many Iranians are suffering however because of sanctions on them?
What does international law say about the illegal occupation of part of Syria by British forces helping the terrorists?
And what does international law say about the Brits flying bombers from Cyprus to launch missiles against Syria which they have done though Syria has never threatened them?
And the UK haven’t just sent another warship but also a submarine full of “commandos”. What are they for?
Are they going to effect an intrusion into Iran for terrorist activities.?
What is their mission?
It certainly isn’t to remain on board a crowded submarine.
What does international law say about that?
And slightly off topic what does international law say about the UK seizing Venezuela’s gold which they naively entrusted to Britain for safe keeping?
Indeed do the US and UK ever show any respect for international law when they are committing war crimes in country after country – but my goodness when a victim of their aggression dares to retaliate against them in a modest way with nobody getting killed, then we rush to consult international law.
And no Brit can ever talk about international law when we remember the atrocities carried out in the destruction of Iraq by the UK . Followed by Libya.
The Anglo Zionists are waging war on Iran using all means short of military invasion and trying to destroy it.
I don’t think you are looking at the bigger picture. Perhaps you would find it elucidating to take a closer look at what little England gets up to. Perhaps we all should.
It is not pleasant.
Plus 400m owed ror non delivery of tanks to Iran..
Let the author do not offend, but I stopped reading the article before the end. namely, the Anglo-world sees and acts according to “rule based international order” based on the “Anglo” prefix and “I do so because i can” Brits first call was for rule based intl.order (?) and then they call for international law and then they were probably right. but they are late now. they have set themselves by the rules of “rule based intl. order, “. Now Iranians accepted it and played in accordance with Anglo rules. now all “civilized” world is astonished as Iranians dare to do what they do in contravention of international law (and obviously to rule-based intl.order). as a seemingly rule-based international order over the last 70+ years Anglo-World throws bombs all over the world and because civilization/human race, having a global view, has difficulties in development, or to say that it is moving “uphill”, Anglo-World is constantly pushing the brake on this movement “uphill” by its violence in the world. pushing some part of the world toward stone age.
we know from biology that organisms that do not respond properly to environmental stimuli begin to develop disease and die out. it is possible, in a transmitted sense, to convey the organisms that represent societies, tribes, national states, the Iranians definitely want to survive, and I do not know who can blame them, apart from the duplicity of Anglo politicians, their European/M.E. servants, and of course Zionists. let the Iranians do what they see best for them. we have no right to blame them.
an unannounced war against iran is in progress. what the relationship has international law there? just look at merchant navy in WWII, torpedoes & mines…
I think their is a penalty for embarrassing the western eiltes, its called sanctions and we can expect many more in the days and weeks to come.
The israelonazi seizure of the Iranian ship off Gibraltar, using their brit quislings, was illegal and an act of war. The Iranian arrest of the brit ship was legal and in response to the ships questionable actions prior, which are now under investigation. The brits have arrested several members of the crew of the Iranian vessel, on bogus charges, while the Iranians have not persecuted the crew of the brit ship.
These two incidents should not be construed as equivalent, but as part of a larger zionazi-gay campaign to demonise and isolate Iran, through proxy. The Iranians have been very careful not to rise to the zionazi-gay bait while maintaining their territorial integrity. Their verbal rhetoric may often sound threatening, as amplified by zionazi-gay quisling assets, but their actual actions have been calm and well reasoned. There has been a lot of coordinating behind the scenes between Russia, China and the independent nations opting break free of zpc/nwo control on defeating the attacks and provocations of zionazia and preventing their war plans. One can see Iran is doing their part in this effort.
“ The Iranian arrest of the brit ship was legal“
Not it wasn’t since the operation took place in Omani territorial waters. I’d call call that a hijacking.
Equally there are some suspicions on if the ‘Grace 1” was in Gib waters.
Had Iran seized the “Stena Impero” in her own waters or on high seas, then that would have been a different situation legally
As I’ve said, the goal here is to get the US Navy – and as many of its allies as possible for “cover” as a “coalition” – into the Gulf and then to start seizing Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf as part of Trump’s “zero Iran oil shipments” goal.
In other words, a de facto blockade – which is an act of war. And that’s how you get the Iran war started while still being able to blame Iran for it. That’s the only thing Trump cares about – not being *blamed* for starting a new Mid-East war. He has no problem with the war – as he explicitly said, not that anything he says can be treated seriously. He just doesn’t want to be blamed for it.
This is exactly the attitude Obama had because, like Trump, he was a “stunning narcissist” (as Norman Finkelstein called him.)
War with Iran is inevitable. And no one can stop it, short of China and Russia entering into a mutual defense treaty with Iran – which neither country is going to do.
Exactly, drip by drip, subtle moves to increasingly pincer Iran and to get to move more bad moves, thus allowing the ‘coalition’ (at what stage are we going to hear incessantly?) to take advantage, aided by an extremely subservient media echo chamber. We are indeed sleepwalking into a major confrontation.
“War with Iran is inevitable.”
No it is not. That is what the zionazi-gays want their dupes to think.
“these latest incidents are going to further undermine operators using the UK as a flag of convenience.”
Own goal by the UK: https://twitter.com/rt_com/status/1154081308441636864
Tanker SITREP needs an update:
“Authorities in Gibraltar have released the Iranian supertanker Grace 1, which was seized on July 4 on suspicion it was shipping 2.1 million barrels of crude oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions,” the Gibraltar Chronicle reported on Thursday.”
In progress…