The Iranian navy has seized a US-linked oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman as part of a long-running dispute with the US over an American court order a year ago that seized Iranian oil on the tanker and unloaded the cargo in Texas.

Official Iranian news agencies said on Wednesday that the tanker had been taken on the authority of an Iranian court order, but the news will add to the growing tensions about freedom of navigation in the region as a result of repeated Houthi rebel attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

The Houthis say their attacks are designed to disrupt the Israeli economy and the naval forces protecting Israel, primarily the US’s, as a result of the war in Gaza.

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Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/11/iran-seizes-oil-tanker-with-links-to-us-in-gulf-of-oman

The post Iran seizes oil tanker with links to US in Gulf of Oman first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

We’re all on our own.  The mainstream is brimming with stories of people who decided to wait and see what the side effects of the “vaccines” were, and are now suffering in some ICU unit.  One study indicates that the hospitalized cases are roughly split between people who are “fully vaccinated” and those who aren’t.  What are we to believe, especially when those giving advice don’t have a very good record for being truthful?  So the vaccinated are worrying that they’ll be infected with some variant carried by the un-vaccinated, and they’re none too pleased.

They’ve just applied the word “breakthrough” to the cases of the “vaccinated.”  Still, they tell us as if in unison, the shot will lessen the chance you’ll be sick unto death.  That’s reassuring.  Word is that the “vaccines” are about to be approved by the FDA.  That will take away the arguments all over the Internet that claim mandating an unapproved shot is a violation of the Nuremberg treaty that dates back to 1947.  Can you imagine the legal repercussions if the shots being pushed by every government entity and most of the private sector were not approved?  So the FDA has no choice but to approve the vaccines, then the mandates from on high will be legitimate from a legal standpoint.

Panic has spread like wildfire (again) as reports of new infections come from every quarter.  We all have it ringing in our ears, “Get the shot!”  People are wearing masks again, and this time it’s genuine fear, and not just virtue signaling.  No doubt, the sickness has spread and “health authorities” are telling everybody what to do.  Maybe the government can’t mandate vaccination, yet, and if the shots touted don’t fit the definition of the word, the definition can simply be changed.  The powers that be have the authority to change the definitions of words, and they’ve been doing it for some time.

It was last December when Governor Cuomo told Dr. Fauci that they were just like the movie stars Di Niro and Pacino.  They had a good laugh as they reveled in how famous they’d become.  Cuomo told Fauci he could pick which movie star he wanted to be.  They might have sealed their fates.   Pride cometh before a fall, says the Proverb, obviously still in effect after all these centuries.  Some truths are everlasting.  It looks like both of them tempted fate when they decided to flaunt their fame and supposed importance.  Lately they’ve probably both lost sleep, deservedly.

Fauci, worries that he’ll eventually be blamed for the “gain of function” research that he insisted was so important, even if it did cost lives. Lots of them.  The very suggestion causes him to act out in ways unbecoming the amiable saintly demeanor with which we’re so familiar.  Cuomo’s not laughing anymore as he’s busy trying to defend against all manner of “me too” accusations, and maybe even facing criminal charges.  It seems a little incongruous that Cuomo’s name now opens many a news segment for getting a little frisky with the help.  Never mind that he ordered sick and elderly corona virus patients into nursing homes, with many dead to show for it.  Officials can’t be bothered about that.  Nobody died as a result of his inappropriate behavior, and he’s reminding us he’s Italian.  We wouldn’t understand, hard as we might try.

Meanwhile the Taliban is taking over Afghanistan and the summer fires are raging in California, but then… freedom is banned in the Western world with newfound authority from “health officials.”  There’s trouble in the Gulf of Oman, with Iran suspected of tampering electronically with passing vessels.  Israel has a new Prime Minister, Naftali Bennet, who wants to cooperate with the White House, but worries that Iran is closer to a nuclear warhead than ever before.  It could get scary.

In sports, they’re celebrating so-called transsexuals, even at the Olympics.  These dudes could never pass for women, never.  But we’ve got bearded men kissing on the mouth in commercials, as if the news wasn’t bad enough.  We’re assailed with conflicting information and many don’t know who or what to believe, having been lied to so routinely.

Our trust has been squandered on a host of subjects, ranging from the global-warming scam to the Fauci flu.  We’re being lied to on a host of subjects, and we know it.  Our trust lies outside the cacophony of nonsense spilling from every device.  The mainstream has bought into too much clap trap, and cried wolf too often.  They’ve lost all credibility and can’t believe that we can’t just be herded around with their bogus “facts.”  Sorry.

Mark

Source: http://www.intercontinentalcog.org/fridayupdates.php

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 6 August 2021 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Israeli-linked Japanese-owned tanker MT Mercer Street is seen off the port of the Gulf Emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates on August 3, 2021. (Karim SAHIB / AFP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — At least six ships off the coast of the United Arab Emirates broadcast warnings Tuesday that they had lost control of their steering under unclear circumstances as British authorities reported “a potential hijack” was underway in the area.

It wasn’t immediately clear what was happening off the coast of Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman.

According to the Reuters news agency, which quoted two security maritime sources, Iranian-backed forces were believed to have seized one of the tankers.

Shipping authority Lloyd’s List and maritime intelligence firm Dryad Global both identified the vessel involved as Panama-flagged asphalt tanker Asphalt Princess. The vessel’s owner, listed as Emirati free zone-based Glory International, could not immediately be reached for comment late Tuesday.

The six vessels announced around the same time via their Automatic Identification System trackers that they were “not under command,” according to MarineTraffic.com. That typically means a vessel has lost power and can no longer steer.

“At the same time, if they are in the same vicinity and in the same place, then very rarely that happens,” said Ranjith Raja, an oil and shipping expert with data firm Refintiv. “Not all the vessels would lose their engines or their capability to steer at the same time.”

One of the vessels later began moving.

A ship in the Gulf of Oman may have been a hijacking target Tuesday. (AP Graphic)

An Oman Royal Air Force Airbus C-295MPA, a maritime patrol aircraft, flew in circles for hours over the area where the ships were, according to data from FlightRadar24.com.

Apparently responding to the incident, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as calling the recent maritime attacks in the region “completely suspicious.” He denied that Iran was involved.

“Iran’s naval forces are ready for help and rescue in the region,” Khatibzadeh said.

The United States stopped short of assigning blame for the latest episode but State Department spokesman Ned Price said there has been “a very disturbing pattern of belligerence from Iran.”

“When it comes to this specific incident, it’s too early for us to offer a judgment just yet,” Price told reporters.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States was in close touch with Britain over the “deeply concerning” incident.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations initially only warned ships that “an incident is currently underway.” Hours later, they said the incident was a “potential hijack.” They did not elaborate.

The US military’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet and the British Defense Ministry did not immediately return calls for comment. The Emirati government did not immediately acknowledge the incident.

The event comes just days after a drone struck an oil tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire off the coast of Oman, killing two crew members. The West blamed Iran for the attack, which marked the first known assault to have killed civilians in the yearslong shadow war targeting commercial vessels in the region.

Iran denied playing any role in the incident, though Tehran and its allied militias have used similar “suicide” drones in attacks previously.

Israel, the United States and United Kingdom vowed a “collective response” to the attack, without elaborating.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/4-ships-in-gulf-of-oman-lose-control-days-after-drone-strike-on-vessel/

The post 6 ships in Gulf of Oman lose control, days after vessel attacked by drones first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

On Friday, December 27, Iran, Russia and China began their first-ever joint exercises in the Indian Ocean.

The area of the drills, dubbed by the participants “the Maritime Safety Belt”, is located in the Gulf of Oman, which is near the world’s key oil artery, the Gulf transport corridor through which tankers carry 40% of the world’s daily oil supply.

“The message of these exercises is peace and friendship,” said Admiral Gholamreza Tahani, deputy commander of the Iranian Navy. According to him, within three days, across the area of 17,000 square km – from the Iranian port of Chabahar to the Indian Ocean – the participants will work out tactical tasks to ensure the security of the region.

Russia will be represented by the frigate Yaroslav Mudry, which will be accompanied by the tanker Yelnya and the sea tug Victor Kanetsky.

A detachment of Russian ships has already docked in the Iranian port of Chabahar and is preparing for the active phase of the exercises, which begin on December 28, Interfax reported, citing the press service of the Russian Baltic Fleet.

The Russian newspaper Kommersant reports, citing in the Russian Ministry of Defense, that the sailors of the three countries will work out elements of joint maneuvering, communication, assistance to the ship in distress, as well as conduct training on the search and freeing of the vessel seized by the pirates.

“We carry out our activities openly and legally,” said the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

“We are working out the issues of maintaining stability, security, fight against terrorism in the region,” she said.

China is sending only one ship, a missile destroyer, to the exercises, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian told Reuters. It is a “normal military exchange between countries” that is “not necessarily related to the situation in the region,” he said.

The U.S. will monitor naval exercises of Russia, China, and Iran in the Gulf of Oman, Pentagon spokesman Sean Robertson told TASS news agency.

Source: http://uawire.org/russia-iran-and-china-begin-joint-exercises-in-gulf-of-oman

The post Russia, Iran and China begin joint exercises in Gulf of Oman first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford testifies during a House Appropriations subcommittee on budget hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 1, 2019. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

FORT MYER, Virginia (AP) — The United States will move ahead with plans to build a coalition of nations to monitor and deter Iranian threats against commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf area and in a heavy trafficked waterway between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday.

Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford said the Pentagon has developed a specific plan, and that he believes it will be clear within a couple of weeks which nations are willing to join the effort.

Mark Esper, the acting secretary of defense, raised the issue last month with allied officials at NATO headquarters, but no nations were ready to commit to participating. Esper said at the time that the plans would have to be further refined.

Dunford said he discussed the matter Tuesday with Esper and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and that plans are coming together.

An Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat maneuvers in the Persian Gulf while an oil tanker is seen in the background, July 2, 2012. (Vahid Salemi/AP)

“We’re getting ready now to move out,” Dunford told a small group of reporters at Fort Myer, Virginia. “We have a pretty clear concept of what we want to do.”

He suggested that the project could begin with a small coalition.

“This will be scalable. So, with a small number of contributors, we can have a small mission and we’ll expand that as the number of nations that are willing to participate identify themselves,” he said.

He said the US military’s main role would be to provide “maritime domain awareness” – intelligence and surveillance information – to the ships of coalition partners that would conduct patrols in vulnerable waterways like the Strait of Hormuz, which separates the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman, as well as the Bab el Mandeb, a heavily trafficked strait between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa.

Any escorting of commercial ships would be done by military ships sailing under the flag of the commercial vessel, he said.

The initiative was triggered last month by Trump administration concerns that Iran was behind recent attacks on commercial ships in the Persian Gulf region.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-proceeding-with-plan-for-coalition-to-counter-iran-threats/

The post US proceeding with plan for coalition to counter Iran threats first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Iran called the accusations part of a campaign of American disinformation and “warmongering.”

The explosions forced the crews of both vessels to evacuate and left at least one ablaze, and hours later the causes were still under investigation. Yet the backdrop of steeply rising threats between President Trump and Iranian leaders gave the stricken ships a grave significance even before the facts became clear.

By afternoon, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that American intelligence agencies had concluded Tehran was behind the disabling of both ships. Without providing specific evidence, he pointed to the weapons used, the expertise and resources required and the similarity to other recent attacks attributed to Iran.

“Taken as a whole, these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security,” he told a news conference in Washington.

Senior American officials had already blamed Iran for similar attacks last month against four tankers on the same waterway. Iranian officials, who denied any involvement in those attacks, also rejected assertions they were behind the events on Thursday and said Iran had been framed.

“Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what likely transpired this morning,” Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, wrote on Twitter. Mr. Pompeo, firing back at his news conference, said Mr. Zarif “may think this is funny, but no one else in the world does.”

The most compelling evidence to support Mr. Pompeo’s claim is full-motion video footage taken by a Navy P-8 surveillance plane of an Islamic Revolutionary Guards patrol boat pulling up alongside the Kokuka Courageous, one of the stricken ships, a few hours after the initial explosion, and removing what American analysts believe was a limpet mine, two United States officials said after the secretary’s statement.

The patrol boat, with a crew of about a dozen aboard, removed the mine in broad daylight and zoomed away, blending in with other Revolutionary Guards boats in the area, according to the account by the American officials of what the video showed.

On Thursday night, United States Central Command issued a statement in which it said an Islamic Revolutionary Guard patrol boat had been “observed and recorded removing the unexploded mine” from the Kokuka Courageous.

The Kokuka Courageous was about 20 miles off the Iranian coast when it transmitted an emergency call for help after an initial explosion. When the crew surveyed the damage from the first explosion, they saw a second unexploded mine attached to the hull and evacuated the ship, according to the American officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive intelligence matter.

The confrontation also played out at the United Nations in a meeting of the Security Council, where the acting United States ambassador, Jonathan Cohen, told other members that Iran was behind the attacks. Iran’s United Nations mission issued a statement afterward denouncing the “inflammatory remarks” by the American representative, calling them part of “another Iranophobic campaign” of disinformation.

“The U.S. and its regional allies must stop warmongering and put an end to mischievous plots as well as false flag operations in the region,” the Iranian statement said.

Earlier Thursday, the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, expressed “deep concern” that the new episode might lead to a military escalation.

[Read more about the narrow waterway that is the world’s most important oil route.]

Besides its importance as a petroleum highway, the Persian Gulf also divides bitter and heavily armed rivals, with Iran on one side and the American-backed Arab monarchies of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on the other.

The two sides have fought for years through surrogate forces in neighboring countries, including Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Bahrain. Saudi and Emirati forces have been battling directly for more than four years to roll back a takeover of Yemen by a faction aligned with Iran.

Anxieties over the shared dependence on the vulnerable Persian Gulf shipping lanes have always been central to their animosities, and a commitment to guaranteeing the flow of oil through the same channels is behind the substantial American military presence in the region.

Iranian officials on Thursday suggested the new attacks might be the product of an elaborate conspiracy by their enemies, seemingly pointing to American allies like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates or Israel, which have long urged Washington to take a more muscular approach to Iran.

But many analysts said there was a growing consensus in the West that Iran had been behind last month’s attacks, which took place near the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. And they argued that Iran appeared to be seeking to demonstrate it could imperil the world’s oil markets, but without leaving the kind of fingerprints that could trigger American military retaliation.

“As long as there is significant ambiguity the attacks won’t produce a casus belli,” or cause for war, said Jack Watling, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute in London. “But Iran is demonstrating its capabilities. It is saying, ‘We can impose a cost on our adversaries in this confrontation, and it will be high.’”

Crude oil prices rose more than 3 percent in response to the crippling of the two ships on Thursday, indirectly boosting Iran’s revenue as an oil producer.

The initial White House response on Thursday was measured. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said Mr. Trump had been briefed and that the “U.S. government is providing assistance and will continue to assess the situation.”

It was only a few hours later that Mr. Pompeo publicly blamed Iran.

The escalation came against the backdrop of a visit to Iran by the prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, who was hoping to de-escalate tensions between Tehran and Washington and avert any “accidental clashes.”

Michio Yube, top center, the director of Kokuka Sangyo, speaking to the news media in Tokyo on Thursday after one of the company’s ships was attacked near the Strait of Hormuz.CreditEugene Hoshiko/Associated Press 

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