In July, the IRGC seized a UK-flagged vessel, amid heightened tensions in the vital shipping lane. Iran
initially claimed that vessel, the Stena Impero, had collided with an Iranian fishing boat.
The speaker of the Iranian parliament also said the capture of that vessel was in retaliation for the earlier
detention, by British royal marines, of an Iranian-flagged vessel, the Grace 1. That boat was allegedly
transporting oil to Syria, which the UK said was in violation of EU sanctions.
Then-UK defence minister Penny Mourdant said that the Stena Impero was in Omani territorial waters at
the time.
Britain has mooted the idea of a European-led maritime force in the Strait of Hormuz, a proposal rejected
by Iran as an infringement of its sovereignty. Then-foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt suggested any European
force could be seen by Tehran as less threatening than a counter US proposal for a similar force, given the
US abandonment of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said yesterday that the US is still talking with allies about its proposed
“Operation Sentinel”. Speaking at a meeting between US and Australian leaders, US defence secretary
Mark Esper said he has already gotten a good response from allies and some announcements could be
expected soon. And Pompeo told reporters that a lot of conversations are taking place.
Marine general Joseph Dunford, the chair of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said the Pentagon has
developed a specific plan for Operation Sentinel, which would see the US military’s main role as providing
“maritime domain awareness” – intelligence and surveillance information – to the ships of coalition
partners.
Any escorting of commercial ships would be done by military ships sailing under the flag of the commercial
vessel, he said.
After the US last year pulled out of the Iranian nuclear deal, the Trump administration also increased
sanctions against Iran, and this could help explain what we are now seeing in the increasingly tense Strait of
Hormuz, said Holly Dagres, Iran expert and non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council.
“Iran believes the United States declared economic warfare when it announced as part of its ‘maximum
pressure’ policy to bring Iranian oil exports down to zero,” Ms Dagres told The Independent. “Tehran
threatened to retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz – though it didn’t explain how. What we are seeing
in recent weeks is Iran begin to make good on that threat, by making shipping more precarious through the
strait.”
“Whether this latest oil tanker was in fact smuggling oil or not, the United States will point to this latest
incident as more incentive for allies to join Operation Sentinel,” she added. “Having that been said, if this
operation goes into full force, it will likely lead down a path of direct conflict in the near future – as long as
Tehran continues to feel the impact of sanctions.”
The tanker has been taken to the southern Iranian port city of Bushehr, an IRGC naval commander has said.
The cargo of the unnamed ship, which was seized on Wednesday, has been handed over to the National Oil
Distribution Company’s branch in Bushehr, Brig Gen Ramezan Zirahi said, the semi-official ISNA news
agency reported yesterday.
“Naval units of IRGC’s navy second zone are performing duty as per routine and with all-out intelligence
domination to protect the national interests with full force and will not hesitate for a moment in performing
this crucial task,” Mr Zirahi said.