White House spokesman John Kirby said on Friday the United States would take a number of steps to thwart Iran’s growing illegal actions against foreign-flagged commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to Kirby, there have been 15 instances in the past two years in which Iran “has harassed, attacked or interfered with navigational rights in the Persian Gulf in relation to commercial vessels”. But over the past 2 months, the situation has become particularly tense, especially after Iran seized 2 commercial tankers in early May, within a week.
The Bahrain-based US Navy’s 5th Fleet said the Panamanian-flagged tanker Niovi was hijacked by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps ships on May 3 as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The US Navy released drone surveillance footage showing a dozen Iranian vessels surrounding the tanker and forcing it to change course towards Iranian territorial waters off Bandar Abbas. The drone was on routine patrols in the area and saw the capture, although the US Navy did not receive a distress call from the Niovi tanker itself.
The incident comes days after Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker in the Gulf of Oman.
The White House has asked the Pentagon to take steps to bolster US defensive forces in the Persian Gulf and thwart Iran’s illegal activities. Kirby said US Central Command (CENTCOM) will provide details on the new plan in the coming days.
Kirby noted that the United States strongly condemns actions that threaten and interfere with commercial shipping. “We have witnessed repeated Iranian threats, armed seizures and attacks on commercial vessels that have the right and freedom of navigation in international waterways,” Kirby said.
According to the analysis company Vortexa, about 1/5 of the world’s supply of crude oil and petroleum products passes through the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman.
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