Even the depth of the waters in this area doesn't lend itself to a great deal of safety for a shipping route.
This is what the shipping industry is facing when sailing through the Straits of Hormuz. Iran has sovereign rights in those waters.
The shipping lanes are very specific.
It is unclear from the depiction of these waters in the media as to where exactly the tankers were found. I still have not changed my mind that this was terrorists. The cargo of these tankers was very specific, one was LNG and the other naphtha. Taiwan imports naphtha which is a byproduct of oil (click here). Both are very explosive. I believe terrorists were engaging these tankers to cause greater devastation.
It is not in Iran's best interest to cause explosions that would bring damage to their coastal cities or waters. I don't see Iran as the culprit.
From what I can tell in media reports it was the "Front Altair" that was in Iranian waters. It is this ship's crew rescued by the Iranian fast boats. That crew is comprised of 11 Russians, one Georgian and 11 Philippine nationals. It is my understanding that crew is still in Iranian custody.
The crew of the "Kokuka Courageous" is safely in the UAE. I believe the Courageous is in UAE waters from the maps available of the reporting. It would appear the rescue was conducted from both Iran and the UAE within their own sovereign waters.
There are problems in carrying out assessments of the area by the USA. Iran will not allow the USA into it's air space or it's national waters.
June 15, 2019
Iran attempted (click here) to shoot down a U.S. drone that was surveilling the attack on one of two tankers hit in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday morning, U.S. Central Command said. The attempt missed the MQ-9 Reaper by "approximately one kilometer."...
Donald J. Trump's campaign promise has really done it this time. Iran is stating it is going to break the limits on enrichment within the international agreement regarding it's nuclear program. I sincerely believe Iran is reassessing it's nuclear program and the consequences for the enrichment and eventually nuclear weapons. That is not an official statement by Iran.
Since the USA backed out of the Iran Nuclear Agreement, it was a matter of time before there would be decisions regarding a return to enrichment and possible nuclear weapon capacity. It is going to be very difficult to return any level of trust by Iran of the USA.
With Trump breaking the agreement and adding sanctions to Iran the world is not safer, especially that of the USA and Israel. This is proof of that. There needs to be a return to peace talks that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may have started with his recent visit.
June 17, 2019
Iran says (click here) it will break its limit for uranium enrichment agreed in its 2015 nuclear deal, the latest escalation in tensions after the US accused Iran of sabotaging oil tankers last week.
Under the 2015 deal — formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — Iran agreed with the Obama administration and several European states to limit uranium production.
It said it would stick to a 300kg of uranium hexafluoride to 3.7% until 2030....
