July 21, 2019
The fate of Indian crew members aboard a British oil tanker seized by Iran on
Saturday is unknown. The company that owns the vehicle said that the ship is
no longer under the control of the crew and is uncontactable.
In a statement, ship authorities said, “There have been no reported injuries
and the safety and welfare of our crew remain our primary focus”. The 23
people on board are of Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino nationalities.
Iran seized the British tanker and stopped another for “violating
international regulations.”
Iran announced that it has seized a British tanker Steno Impero.
Later, an official of the United States government said that Iran had seized
a second tanker, MV Masdar. The Masdar was allowed to continue
after Iranian officials followed up with the ship on its environmental
regulations.
All crew are safe and well. Communication has been re-established with the
vessel and Master confirmed that the armed guards have left and the vessel
is free to continue the voyage. – Norbulk Shipping UK
The United Kingdom government has spoken out against the Iran government’s
move. “These seizures are unacceptable. It is essential that freedom of
navigation is maintained and that all ships can move safely and freely in the
region.”
United States President Donald Trump also said that this
proves Iran is nothing but trouble. “This only goes to show what I’m saying
about Iran. Trouble. Nothing but trouble. It goes to show you I was right
about Iran. The US has very few tankers going in because we’re using a lot of
our own energy”..
This is the second time in two months that Iran has attempted to seize a
British oil tanker. Earlier, armed Iranian boats unsuccessfully tried to
seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.
This comes amid rising tensions between Iran and the US triggered by US’ move
to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPoA) last year, blaming Iran for backing terrorism and conflicts.
The pact was signed by five countries- the US, the UK, Russia, China and
Germany, and the European Union – with the aim of limiting Iran’s civilian
energy programme, and preventing it from developing nuclear weapons at some
point in the future. This was in return for relief from sanctions that were
damaging Iran’s economy.
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/indians-on-board-british-ship-seized-by-iran
