WarSclerotic

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A large British-flagged vessel transited the Strait of Hormuz and arrived at a port in Qatar on Wednesday in the first such passage made by a British ship of its size since Iran seized a UK-flagged tanker last week, according to maritime tracking data.

Maritime publication Lloyd’s List identified the vessel as the BW Elm and reported that a British warship, likely the HMS Montrose, closely shadowed the large liquefied petroleum gas carrier but that the Royal Navy did not provide a direct escort.

The Ministry of Defense declined to specifically comment on the transit and referred to recent comments made by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, in which he confirmed the HMS Montrose has accompanied more than 30 ships over the last ten days through the strait.

Britain this week announced plans to develop and deploy a Europe-led “maritime protection mission” to safeguard shipping in the area. It comes as Boris Johnson prepares to assume office as prime minister on Wednesday.

One-fifth of global crude passes through the shipping corridor, making it an internationally important chokepoint for global energy supplies from Gulf exporters.

In a statement to the AP, the ship’s owner BW LPG declined to comment on specifics, but noted protection by the navy.

“BW LPG is grateful for the UK and international community for their naval presence in the area providing security to merchant vessels transiting through the Straits of Hormuz,” the company said, adding that it is operating “at our highest security protocol.”

Iran’s seizure of the British-flagged Stena Impero and its crew of 23 on Friday heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf after a spate of incidents that have threatened security in the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and Oman.

In past weeks, Iran has shot down a US spy drone, US officials say military cyberforces struck Iranian computer systems that handle missile and rocket launchers, and six oil tankers were sabotaged near the strait.

The Grace 1 super tanker in the British territory of Gibraltar, July 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno)

Iranian officials meanwhile reiterated their denial that any Iranian drones were intercepted, after the US military said Tuesday that it took aim at two of them last week.

US Central Command said one Iranian drone crashed into the sea after the USS Boxer took “defensive action” against it last Thursday. It said the Boxer also “engaged” a second Iranian drone at the same time, but could not confirm it was destroyed.

Iran’s defense minister, Gen. Amir Hatami, told reporters Wednesday that “if someone claims he should provide evidence,” adding that “none of our drones have been intercepted.”

The current tensions stem from US President Donald Trump’s decision last year to pull the country from Iran’s nuclear accord with world powers and reinstate sweeping sanctions. The US has also expanded its military presence in the region.

Iranian officials have alleged the Stena Impero was seized after it violated international maritime law by turning off its signaling for longer than is allowed and passing through the wrong channels.

However, Iranian officials have also suggested the ship was seized in response to Britain’s role in impounding an Iranian supertanker two weeks earlier off the coast of Gibraltar, a British overseas territory. The UK says the tanker was suspected of violating sanctions on oil shipments to Syria.

PARIS, France (AP) — French authorities in a meeting Tuesday with an Iranian envoy stressed the need for Tehran to quickly respect the 2015 nuclear accord it has breached and “make the needed gestures” to deescalate mounting tensions in the Persian Gulf region.

A statement by the French Foreign Ministry said Seyed Abbas Araghchi gave a message to President Emmanuel Macron from Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani. Macron and Rouhani spoke last Thursday.

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who met with Araghchi, is working with European partners on an observation mission to ensure maritime security in the Gulf, where tensions have mounted after Iran’s seizure last Friday of a UK-flagged oil tanker.

Le Drian made no mention of a Europe-led “maritime protection mission” announced a day earlier by his British counterpart, Jeremy Hunt, offering instead what seems to be a softer version.

France is working “at this moment on a European initiative” with Britain and Germany, he told lawmakers, without elaborating. “This vision is the opposite of the American initiative, which is … maximum pressure” against Iran.

The British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero which was seized by the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Friday is photographed in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, July 20, 2019 (Tasnim News Agency/via AP)

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnes Von der Muhll said at a briefing that the initiative involves “appropriate means of surveillance” aimed at “increased understanding of the situation at sea” to facilitate traffic in a waterway that is critical to the global economy.

Iran’s seizure Friday of British oil tanker Steno Impero and its 23-member crew in the Strait of Hormuz aggravated tensions that were already mounting with Iran’s breaching of a 2015 Iran nuclear accord among world powers.

US President Donald Trump withdrew the country from the accord last year, reinstating sanctions on Iran and raising tensions.

Nations still party to the shaky Iran nuclear deal plan to meet in Vienna on Sunday to see to what extent the agreement can be saved. The European Union said the meeting of China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany, chaired by the EU, “will examine issues linked to the implementation of the (nuclear deal) in all its aspects.”

Iran began openly exceeding the uranium enrichment levels set in the accord to try to pressure Europe into offsetting the economic pain of US sanctions.

Le Drian stressed the need for diplomacy to deescalate volatile tensions, which he has said previously could lead to “an accident.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday his country was open to holding talks on its nuclear program but would not be browbeaten into doing so.

“We are fully ready for fair, legal negotiation based on respect and dignity to resolve problems, but we will not surrender under the name of negotiation,” he said during a cabinet meeting, according to his official website.

Rouhani appeared to be reiterating comments from earlier this month that he was willing to negotiate with the United States if it first lifts sanctions and rejoins the 2015 international accord meant to limit Iran’s nuclear program.

The US has been waging a “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran since President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal last year, reimposing tough sanctions in a bid to return Tehran to the negotiating table.

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press after announcing his decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran during a speech from the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House on May 8, 2018. (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb)

At the cabinet meeting, Rouhani touted his government’s role in brokering the agreement, noting the windfall Iran received from the lifting of longstanding sanctions after it took effect. He went on to hit out at rivals Israel and Saudi Arabia for opposing the deal and welcoming Trump’s withdrawal.

“Recently, Saudi Arabia and the prime minister of the Zionist regime announced that they played a part in the United States’ withdrawal from the JCPOA, not to mention the extremists inside the US,” Rouhani said, using the acronym for the deal’s official name.

“Of course, their actions proved that the JCPOA was [too] heavy for Zionists and the regional reactionaries to bear,” he added.

Rouhani addressed Iran’s recent decision to violate the deal’s caps on the amount of uranium it can hold and what level it can enrich it to, saying the impact of US sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s lucrative oil exports led it to reassess its approach.

“We acted cautiously toward the US withdrawal until we could sell our oil to the amount we desired, but since they began their fully-fledged sanctions against our oil, we are in new conditions; therefore, we made firm decisions to reduce our commitments under the new conditions,” he said.

From left, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and then British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, during a meeting of the foreign ministers at the Europa building in Brussels, on May 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys, Pool)

The deal’s European signatories — Britain, France and Germany — have been seeking to coax Iran into reversing its violations of the agreement, with Tehran demanding economic concessions for doing so.

Along with the three European countries, Iranian allies China and Russia are also parties to the UN-ratified agreement.

Rouhani also commented on tensions in the Persian Gulf in the wake of Iran’s seizure last week of a UK-flagged tanker in retaliation for Britain’s impounding of a vessel off Gibraltar suspected of transporting oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions.

“We will not allow anyone to cause disturbances in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz,” the Mehr news agency reported him as saying.

A series of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf region, as well as Iran’s downing of a US military drone, have turned the area into a powder keg.

AFP contributed to this report.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency claimed Wednesday that Israel was responsible for the death of UN nuclear watchdog chief Yukiya Amano several days ago at the age of 72.

The Tehran-based outlet, which defines its mission as “defending the Islamic Revolution against negative media propaganda campaign [sic],” cited unnamed “informed sources” who insisted that Amano, a Japanese diplomat who was extensively involved in negotiations over Iran’s controversial nuclear program, had been “eliminated” after refusing to buckle to “heavy pressure” from Jerusalem and Washington.

The news of Amano’s death comes at a time of increasing concerns and escalating tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, after US President Donald Trump left a 2015 deal with world powers that restricted the country’s nuclear uranium enrichment.

Amano was heavily involved in the years-long negotiations that led to the landmark Iran nuclear deal.

“There is evidence that the Trump administration and the Israeli regime were constantly pressuring the Japanese diplomat to accuse Iran of violation of the 2015 nuclear deal,” the report said.

But Amano refused “to open a false case against Iran on the nuclear issue,” Tasnim quoted its sources as saying.

The Iranian mouthpiece offered no proof for its assertions.

The International Atomic Energy Agency announced Amano’s death on Monday. He had wide experience in disarmament, non-proliferation diplomacy and nuclear energy, and had been chief of the key UN agency that regulates nuclear issues worldwide since 2009. The IAEA Secretariat did not give a cause of death for Amano, or say where or when he died.

Two European diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had cancer.

A graduate of the Tokyo University Faculty of Law, Amano joined the Japanese Foreign Ministry in 1972 and was posted to jobs in Belgium, France, Laos, Switzerland, and the United States. At the Foreign Ministry, Amano was chief of the Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Science Department from 2002 until 2005. He then served as Japan’s representative to the IAEA until his election as director general in July 2009, including a stint as chair of its board of governors in 2005-2006.

Agencies contributed to this report.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency claimed Wednesday that Israel was responsible for the death of UN nuclear watchdog chief Yukiya Amano several days ago at the age of 72.

The Tehran-based outlet, which defines its mission as “defending the Islamic Revolution against negative media propaganda campaign [sic],” cited unnamed “informed sources” who insisted that Amano, a Japanese diplomat who was extensively involved in negotiations over Iran’s controversial nuclear program, had been “eliminated” after refusing to buckle to “heavy pressure” from Jerusalem and Washington.

The news of Amano’s death comes at a time of increasing concerns and escalating tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, after US President Donald Trump left a 2015 deal with world powers that restricted the country’s nuclear uranium enrichment.

Amano was heavily involved in the years-long negotiations that led to the landmark Iran nuclear deal.

“There is evidence that the Trump administration and the Israeli regime were constantly pressuring the Japanese diplomat to accuse Iran of violation of the 2015 nuclear deal,” the report said.

But Amano refused “to open a false case against Iran on the nuclear issue,” Tasnim quoted its sources as saying.

The Iranian mouthpiece offered no proof for its assertions.

The International Atomic Energy Agency announced Amano’s death on Monday. He had wide experience in disarmament, non-proliferation diplomacy and nuclear energy, and had been chief of the key UN agency that regulates nuclear issues worldwide since 2009. The IAEA Secretariat did not give a cause of death for Amano, or say where or when he died.

Two European diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had cancer.

A graduate of the Tokyo University Faculty of Law, Amano joined the Japanese Foreign Ministry in 1972 and was posted to jobs in Belgium, France, Laos, Switzerland, and the United States. At the Foreign Ministry, Amano was chief of the Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Science Department from 2002 until 2005. He then served as Japan’s representative to the IAEA until his election as director general in July 2009, including a stint as chair of its board of governors in 2005-2006.

Agencies contributed to this report.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Monday said the UK wanted to establish a European-led maritime protection force for the Gulf but emphasized that London was not seeking a confrontation with Iran.

“We will now seek to put together a European-led maritime protection mission to support the safe passage of both crew and cargo in this vital region,” Hunt told parliament after Iranian authorities seized a British-flagged tanker in the Gulf on Friday.

“We will seek to establish this mission as quickly as possible,” he said, adding: “It will not be part of the US maximum pressure policy on Iran.”

Hunt described Friday’s incident as an act of “state piracy.”

Hunt also said that a British warship, HMS Duncan, that is being dispatched to the region, would arrive by July 29, joining the HMS Montrose currently in the Gulf.

According to the foreign secretary, all British-flagged ships would be asked to give the British authorities notice when they plan to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, where Friday’s incident happened, “to enable us to offer the best protection we can.”

But he added: “It is, of course, not possible for the Royal Navy to provide escorts for every single ship or indeed eliminate all risks of piracy.”

UK Prime Minister Theresa May earlier chaired an emergency security session to discuss how to respond to Iran’s seizure of the ship in the Strait of Hormuz and how to secure shipping in the sensitive region, which is vital to the world’s oil supply.

Iran released new video showing the ship’s crew for the first time on Monday, an apparent attempt to show they were unharmed. None of the 23 are British nationals. The crew is mostly Indian, and also includes Filipino, Russian and Latvian nationals.

May’s official spokesman, James Slack, said Iran seized the ship under false and illegal pretenses and it needs to release it and its crew immediately. Iranian officials have suggested the seizure was in response to Britain’s role in seizing an Iranian oil tanker two week earlier.

Slack said giving an individual naval escort to all UK-flagged ships is not an option because of the volume of traffic. But he denied cuts have made the Royal Navy too small.

“We have the largest military budget in Europe, and we are investing in a world-class Royal Navy,” he said.

Britain is considering a number of options to raise the economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran, but officials say military operations are not being considered at the moment.

The tanker crisis is unfolding in the final days of May’s leadership. The Conservative Party plans to name her successor Tuesday, and the new prime minister — either front-runner Boris Johnson or Hunt — is expected to take office Wednesday.

Friday’s seizure of the Stena Impero came amid heightened tensions between the US and Iran stemming from US President Donald Trump’s decision last year to pull the US from Iran’s nuclear accord with world powers and reinstate sweeping sanctions on Iran.

Iranian officials say the seizure of the British oil tanker was a justified response to the Royal Navy’s role impounding its Grace 1 supertanker with some 2 million barrels of crude off the coast of Gibraltar, a British overseas territory located on the southern tip of Spain.

Iran’s government spokesman Ali Rabiei said Monday that there are diplomatic solutions to the current crisis, but he also defended Iran’s actions.

“When you illegally seize a ship in Gibraltar… we don’t deem it as necessary to show tolerance,” he said. “Some countries have asked for the immediate release of the British tanker. Well, we ask those countries to make the same request to Britain first.”

Britain says it acted lawfully off the Gibraltar coast to prevent illegal oil shipments to Syria that would have violated European Union sanctions while Iran broke international maritime law by forcing the Stena Impero to change course and go to Iran.

Britain says the tanker was in Omani waters at the time, which Iran disputes.

In the newly released video on Monday, the Stena Impero crew is seen dressed in red uniforms and seated around a table onboard as an unidentified Iranian man is heard thanking them for their cooperation. A cameraman is heard telling them not to look at the camera.

It wasn’t clear if the crew was under duress to take part in the filming.

Other choreographed shots show a man checking on the ship, the crew sharing a laugh and talking next to a coffee machine inside the ship. The crew’s chefs are seen preparing food. Another video released by Iran’s state broadcaster shows Iran’s flag hoisted on the ship’s bridge.

Meanwhile, officials in Gibraltar say the ship’s crew has been kept on board the vessel since its seizure July 4. Four Indian crewmembers, including the ship’s captain, were arrested, but not charged, and were then bailed. Gibraltar says they have been in contact with their families are receiving consular support. The crew is comprised of Indian, Pakistani and Ukrainian nationals.

As the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers unravels, the US has expanded its military presence in the region, while Iran has begun openly exceeding the uranium enrichment levels set in the accord to try to pressure Europe into alleviating the pain caused by the sanctions.

European nations are trying to save the nuclear deal and have tried to come up with ways to keep trading with Iran but have run smack into Trump’s sanctions, which also target Iranian oil exports.

Britain is adding to its military profile in the region, but it does not have the naval resources that would be needed to protect all of its shipping interests. More than 400 transits through the Strait of Hormuz were made last year by UK associated ships.

On Sunday, an audio released by maritime security risk firm Dryad Global showed that a British frigate was too far away from the targeted tanker to keep it from being diverted into an Iranian port, despite UK efforts to keep it from being boarded.

In the audio, a British naval officer from the HMS Montrose patrolling the area is heard telling the Iranian patrol boat: “Please confirm that you are not intending to violate international law by unlawfully attempting to board the MV Stena.”

His words did nothing to deter the Iranians.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard released video of the seizure, showing Iranian commandos in black ski masks and fatigues rappelling from a helicopter onto the vessel.

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said Monday that chances of negotiating with Iran were dwindling, as he cited increasing tensions in the Gulf and blasted Tehran as the world’s top “state of terror.”

The president cited a series of recent conflicts involving the Islamic Republic, including the downing of US and Iranian drones and, most recently, Tehran’s announcement that it arrested 17 people in connection to a CIA spy ring, a claim Trump rejected as “lies.”

“Frankly it’s getting harder for me to want to make a deal with Iran, because they behave very badly,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, as visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan sat at his side.

“I’ll tell you it could go either way, very easily,” Trump added. “And I’m OK either way it goes.”

Washington and Tehran have been at loggerheads since May 2018, when Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from a landmark 2015 deal that put curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2019. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP)

On Monday, Trump ramped up the rhetoric, attacking Iran’s government as “a religious regime that is badly failing,” and saying the country has “tremendous problems economically.”

He also used menacing language, saying the United States was “ready for the absolute worst.”

“We are very geared up. They are really the number one state of terror in the world,” Trump said.

The aggressive remarks came as Washington announced it was placing a leading Chinese oil importer on its sanctions blacklist for trading in Iranian crude.

“As part of that maximum pressure campaign, I am announcing that the United States is imposing sanctions on the Chinese entity Zhuhai Zhenrong and its chief executive Youmin Li,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a speech.

“They violated US law by accepting crude oil,” he added.

The sanctions seek to constrict Zhuhai Zhenrong’s access to global financial markets by banning any US individual or business — including financial institutions with US entities, like most global banks — from doing business with the company.