Iran Threatens War While Escalating Maritime Belligerence
Five Iranian boats fired shots at a Singapore-flagged vessel in the Persian Gulf on Thursday, May 14, 2015. The ship, the Alpine Eternity, had just entered international waters after leaving United Arab Emirates territory. When they entered international waters, the Iranians ordered the boat into Iranian waters. The attack mimicked the previous seizure of the Marshall Islands-flagged Maersk Tigris seized by the Iranians in International waters in late April and later released.
The Alpine Eternity refused to cooperate at which point the Iranian gunboats began firing across the bow of the boat. Several shots successfully hit the ship but did not do significant damage. The vessel then turned around and fled back into the United Arab Emirate’s territorial waters. The Iranian boats followed the vessel into UAE territory and briefly continued firing before returning to international waters.
A U.S. Navy ship and several other ships were radioed when the attack began, but the incident was over before the U.S. ship could arrive. As the oil vessel returned to UAE territory, three UAE coast guard boats were sent out to protect the vessel. The Alpine Eternity is now headed back to a port near Dubai.
The Alpine Eternity is a chemical/oil tanker that is Singapore-flagged. The vessel is managed and owned by Transpetrol TM from Norway. The crews are generally internationally staffed, however reports indicate that there were no U.S. citizens on board.
This incident follows heightened tensions as Iran threatens to send a vessel that is allegedly carrying humanitarian aid to Yemen. Rather than delivering the supplies to the U.N. humanitarian aid base in Djibouti, Iran is insisting on sending the vessel to a Houthi controlled port of Hodaida.
When the ship began its course, Iran declared that Iranian warships located in the Gulf of Aden would escort the vessel to the port in Yemen. New updates reveal that Iran is refusing to allow foreign countries to inspect the contents of the ship. Iranian military leaders threatened that any efforts to block the passage of the vessel will “spark war in the region.”
The Pentagon revealed that they were tracking the ship’s movements but would not prevent the ship from delivering the cargo.
The Iranians appear to keep testing the limits, attempting to engage the United States. The U.S. is currently negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran. The nuclear talks have left the deal in a precarious state. Any U.S. attacks against Iran would give Iran reason to back out. Because of this the U.S. may be especially hesitant when dealing with the current maritime situation. The Iranians appear to have calculated that the Obama Administration would rather see the Houthi forces potentially rearmed than risk the completion of the Nuclear deal in which they have invested substantial political capital and prestige.
