Strait of Hormuz - Page 2

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard on Tuesday used massed speedboats, missiles, commandos and helicopter-borne rockets to overwhelm a fake aircraft carrier as guard commander, Major General Hossein Salami, looked on. The unmanned wooden target remained stationary and defenseless during the entire drill.

Iran has re-built a crude wooden mock-up of a U.S. Navy nuclear aircraft carrier at a shipyard alongside its Persian Gulf coast, readying it for the express purpose of being targeted in live-fire drills.

Nineteen sailors are dead and 15 others left wounded after an Iranian naval support vessel was reportedly hit and sunk by a surface-to-surface missile late Sunday in a “friendly fire” incident.

WASHINGTON — A group of 11 Iranian naval vessels made “dangerous and harassing” maneuvers near U.S. ships in the Persian Gulf near Kuwait on Wednesday, in one case passing within 10 yards (meters) of a Coast Guard cutter, American officials said.

China’s envoy to Iran, Chang Hua, said on Tuesday that nothing would soften Beijing’s determination to develop a strategic partnership with Tehran. He said this shortly before Iran launched a missile attack against two Iraqi military bases.

The United Kingdom defended the actions of the Trump administration in Iran, saying the United States is “entitled to defend itself” against Iranian aggression and deploying the Royal Navy to the Persian Gulf to protect shipping vessels flying the British

U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision not to be drawn into military conflict with Iran was attacked by France’s defense minister on Saturday, with Florence Parly lamenting the absence of an American military response in the oil-rich region.

Japan’s government said Friday it has decided not to join a U.S. coalition to protect commercial vessels in the Middle East but is preparing to send its own force to ensure the safe shipment of oil to Japan.

Two missiles struck an Iranian tanker traveling through the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia on Friday, Iranian officials said, the latest incident in the region amid months of heightened tensions between Tehran and the U.S.

(AFP) — The British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero docked in Dubai on Saturday after sailing from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas where it was held for more than two months, according to pool footage and a tracking website.

The presence of foreign naval and land forces creates “insecurity” in the Gulf and they should “stay away”, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday, issuing his warning after the U.S. ordered the deployment of more troops to the troubled region.

Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it joined Australia, Bahrain and the United Kingdom in a US-led maritime coalition to secure the Mideast’s waterways amid threats from Iran after an attack targeting its crucial oil industry.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced through state media on Monday that it has seized another ship near the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC accused the crew of smuggling diesel fuel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Royal Navy warship HMS Montrose has faced 115 confrontations with Iranian forces in the Gulf since the start of July, it was revealed on Monday night.

A fourth Royal Navy warship has been despatched by the UK for patrol duties in the Persian Gulf, in the wake of the capture of the Stena Impero and her 23 crew last month by Iranian commandos.

Iran’s president lamented his recent efforts at diplomacy with the U.S. have come to nothing, saying Thursday “talks are useless” as Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers crumbles further.

Australia will join the United States and the UK in an international maritime coalition protecting oil tankers and cargo ships from threats posed by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday.

The United Kingdom’s Royal Navy and the United States Navy are launching a joint task force to patrol the Strait of Hormuz, weeks after a British vessel was captured by Iranian gunboats in the strategic waterway.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday described American sanctions against him as a “diplomatic failure” by the United States, which he claimed is “all alone in the world today” and unable to form effective international coalitions.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, has fired a shot across the bows of Angela Merkel’s government over its refusal to participate in a mission to protect shipping from Iranian aggression, highlighting how much Americans have sacrificed for the European country.

The Iranian navy on Tuesday rejected “false and incorrect” reports Iran and Russia will hold a joint naval drill in the Persian Gulf within the next few months.

Iran is keen to test the Royal Navy’s resolve as it escorts UK-flagged commercial shipping through the contested waters of the Strait of Hormuz, the commander of a British warship said Wednesday.

The U.S. has requested naval assistance from Germany in the Strait of Hormuz as tensions with Iran escalate, but the political leaders of the European nation have refused to come to the aid of their NATO allies.

South Korea may contribute troops to a U.S.-led maritime security initiative to help protect oil tankers and other commercial vessels from Iranian aggression in the Strait of Hormuz, the Korea Times reported over the weekend.

A Royal Navy warship has arrived in the Persian Gulf ready to accompany British-flagged ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz in the latest escalation of regional tensions after Iran seized a British tanker this month.

Iran on Sunday slammed as “hostile” a UK push for a European-led naval mission to escort tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz, amid heightened tensions over the seizure of foreign-flagged vessels.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during an interview on Thursday that he would “happily” visit Iran for negotiations and would love an opportunity to address the Iranian people directly.

A large British-flagged tanker has transited the Strait of Hormuz accompanied by a Royal Navy frigate in the first such passage since Iran seized a U.K.-flagged vessel last week.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Sunday that Iran’s arguments for seizing a British-flagged oil tanker on Friday are “much more right than those of Gibraltar and London, who are indulging in piracy.”

The United States reportedly offered to organise a joint naval security operation to protect British shipping in the Persian Gulf, but Theresa May turned it down because she “didn’t want to upset the Iranians” or the EU.

British Prime Minister Theresa May will chair an emergency security session on Monday to discuss how to respond to Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran should prepare to be hit by a range of UK sanctions in the aftermath of its seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf, according to media reports.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – In an audio recording released by a maritime security risk firm, a British naval officer can be heard saying that the transit of a British-flagged vessel through the Strait of Hormuz must not be impaired under international law, just before it is seized by Iranian forces.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – A powerful council in Iran said Saturday the country’s seizure of a British oil tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz was in response to Britain’s role in impounding an Iranian supertanker two weeks earlier.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump backed the United Kingdom after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the Islamic Republic is in “big trouble”.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced the seizure of a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.