This weekend, Western navies warned ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz against approaching Iranian waters. The aim is to avoid any risk of seizure.
Sanctions against the Iranian oil industry.
Since 2018, the United States has withdrawn from the Iran nuclear agreement. Washington re-imposed sanctions on Tehran, affecting the oil sector. Problems are multiplying in this maritime zone vital to oil transport.
“Ships are advised to keep as far away as possible from Iranian territorial waters,” Tim Hawkins, spokesman for the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet, told AFP on Sunday.
Naval coalition issues precautions in face of growing threat in the Strait of Hormuz
The U.S.-led naval coalition, “the IMSC notifies vessels in the region of the precautions they should take to minimize the risk of seizure, given the current regional tensions, which we are working to defuse”, said Tim Hawkins, without giving further details.
Britain’s maritime safety agency UKMTO said on Saturday evening that it had been “informed of an increased threat in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz” and was “advising all transiting vessels to exercise caution”.
In a statement, the British maritime security company Ambrey said on Saturday that it had been warned by Greek and American authorities of “the possibility of an attack on a merchant vessel (…) in the Strait of Hormuz in the next 12 to 72 hours”.
Iranian reactions and actions to warnings and previous maritime incidents.
There was no immediate reaction from the Iranian authorities to these warnings, which come almost a week after the deployment of 3,000 US troops in the Red Sea aboard two warships. The aim is to dissuade Iran from seizing oil tankers in the region. The US military reports that Iran has seized or attempted to seize nearly 20 vessels in Gulf waters. In early July, the US Navy thwarted the seizure of two Iranian tankers off the coast of Oman. However, Teheran did manage to seize a merchant ship in Gulf waters.
