Sunday, July 07, 2019

Squeezing Iran

Royal Marines seized an Iranian oil tanker and Iran bitterly complained. Well, payback is a bitch.

Thank you Britain:

Britain has been plunged into a diplomatic row with Iran after Royal Marines seized an Iranian oil tanker as it passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, in a move likely to further inflame tensions in the Gulf.

The Grace 1 super-tanker was boarded in the early hours of Thursday morning to prevent it from delivering a cargo of crude oil to Syria in defiance of EU sanctions, apparently following a request to the UK from the United States.

Consider the British seizure of the tanker a bit of payback for this high seas piracy by Iran.

UPDATE: Iran attempted to retaliate:

Five Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gunboats tried to seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf Wednesday but backed off after a British warship approached, a senior U.S. defense official told Fox News.

The British warship was said to have been less than 5 miles behind the tanker but soon intercepted the Iranian boats and threatened to open fire. A manned U.S. reconnaissance aircraft was above as well, the official said, adding that Iranian forces left without opening fire.

Be careful out there.

UPDATE: The British seem to be claiming only that the Iranians attempted to "impede" the ship--not take it