Iranian official says military ready to protect oil tankers from ‘any threats’

Commander declares efforts to isolate Tehran by choking off oil and shipping industries ‘not acceptable’ after US warns ports and insurance companies not to work with Iranian ships

By ToI Staff and Agencies 12 November 2018, 1:32 pm

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Illustrative: In this July 2, 2012, photo, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat moves in the Persian Gulf while an oil tanker is seen in the background (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The Iranian military is prepared to protect its oil tankers in international waters, a naval commander said Monday, after the United States warned all ports and insurance companies to steer clear of Iranian ships in the wake of the imposition of sweeping sanctions.

“The armed forces of the Islamic Republic are ready to protect the fleet… [the military] is prepared today to protect our fleet of oil tankers against any threats so that it can continue to use marine waterways,” said Rear-Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi, according to the semi-official news agency ISNA.

Mousavi told reporters in Tehran that “causing trouble” in international trade was against international law and was “not acceptable.”

The remarks come a week after the US warned countries and insurance companies to avoid working with Iranian ships, which it called a “floating liability,” saying that granting them access may run afoul of sanctions.

The sanctions that came into force last Monday are targeting Iran’s energy, financial and shipping sectors and mark the end of US participation in the 2015 nuclear deal that US President Donald Trump withdrew from in May.

The sanctions aim to further isolate Iran by choking off its main source of revenue — oil exports — by imposing sanctions on countries and companies that do not end their imports.

This photo from March 12, 2017, shows a an Iranian oil facility on Kharg Island, on the shore of the Persian Gulf. (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)

Brian Hook, the State Department’s special representative on Iran policy, said last Wednesday that the US sanctions extended to insurers and underwriters.

“Knowingly providing these services to sanctioned Iranian shipping companies will result in the imposition of US sanctions,” Hook told reporters. “From the Suez Canal to the Strait of Malacca and all choke points in between, Iranian tankers are now a floating liability.”

He said that Iranian vessels would likely turn to domestic insurers but doubted that they could cover losses stretching into the millions or billions of dollars in a major calamity.

“Should there be an accident involving an Iranian tanker, there is simply no way these Iranian insurance companies can cover the loss,” Hook said.

Brian Hook, special representative for Iran, speaks about the creation of the Iran Action Group at the State Department, in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Trump in May pulled out of an international agreement negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama, in which Iran curtailed its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

The Trump administration said that the deal did not address other concerns, including Tehran’s support for regional terror groups such as Hezbollah, and has boasted of the economic contraction forecast in Iran due to the renewed sanctions.

The United States has nonetheless granted eight waivers to countries including China, India and Japan, which will not be punished for buying Iranian oil for another six months.