Iran has made it an unwanted hat trick well as fare as the West is concerned after they seized their Third Tanker since 13th July, this time for allegedly smuggling fuel for some unspecified Arab countries. The latest seizure is of an Iraqi based vessel carrying about 700,000 litres (154,000 gallons) of fuel and it was taken near the Gulf island of Farsi and moved to Bushehr Port for further investigation. Early indications are that the ship belongs to a private shipping company owned by an Iraqi trader rather than the Iraqi government and may have been hauling Diesel – something which the Iraqi oil ministry doesn’t export.
Fuel smuggling is common in the region and has been an issue for decades, however in the past, a “Blind Eye” seems to have been turned towards it, however, this is the second tanker seized for this in the last month with a Panamanian-flagged Riah tanker having been seized for the same offence in mid July. The other tanker seized, the British flagged Stena Impero was taken in retaliation for the capture of an Iranian Tanker off the coast of Gibraltar earlier.
So in the last month, we have had four tankers seized and the tension is growing with the US likely to put more pressure on for EU wide sanctions while China & Russia continue to side with Iran.
Image credit:Nightman1965/Shutterstock
The prospects of another “Tanker War” as seen in 1984 and 1988 is still remote but the probability is increasing.
