South Korea Sending Troops, Contacting Other Nations After Iran Seizes Ship

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: Newsweek

South Korea is sending military forces to respond to the seizure of one of its tankers by Iran, an endeavor in which it is seeking to work with other nations operating in the region.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard announced Monday that its Zulfiqar fleet had seized a South Korean vessel operating in the Islamic Republic's First Naval District in the Persian Gulf "due to a series of violations of marine environmental laws" after it departed from Saudi Arabia's Al-Jubail port.

The ship, Hankuk Chemi, was said to be transporting up to 7,200 tons of oil-based chemicals, and carrying a crew of South Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Myanmar nationals. Both ship and crew are being held at Iran's Bandar Abbas port, where the Revolutionary Guard said "the issue is to be dealt with by the judicial officials."

In response to the incident, a South Korean Defense Ministry official told Newsweek the country, officially known as the Republic of Korea (ROK),had "sent anti-piracy troops near the Strait of Hormuz for the ROK oil tanker directly."



Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/south-korea-sending-troops-contacting-other-nations-after-iran-seizes-ship/ar-BB1ctiPz?ocid=DELLDHP&li=BBnb7Kz

[James48]

1. Oh Great!

Couldn’t Iran have waited another two weeks? When we had a diplomatic President, instead of a ....hothead?

I have a bad feeling about this one.

[Polybius]

12. They should have waited forever

They had no right to that tanker. They are a bunch of thugs.

[denbot]

2. Just what was not needed, exactly when it wasn't needed..

Great start to 2021. Those R.O.K.’s staging nearby are very capable. I’m pretty sure South Korea is lining up air transport, and ground support.

Korea isn’t the bluffing type.

[marble falls]

6. RoKs are tough, well trained and seriously armed. My money's on the RoKs ...

... that said, there's better ways of handling this, especially now with a nut job US President who very well start a war at 11:59PM Jan 21.

[dware]

9. Yes they are.

I had the pleasure of training with their Marines, they are first class fighters and won't back down.

Let's hope cooler heads prevail and everyone takes a step back and let diplomacy take over.

[Maxheader]

3. so was the vessel dumping?

due to a series of violations of marine environmental laws" after it departed from Saudi Arabia's Al-Jubail port.

[jaxexpat]

4. That's a really good question and if this movie weren't a western, relevant.

Shoot 'em ups at the Saturday afternoon matinee. That's the sort of "great" American entertainment the Trumpistas want to see made again.

[soryang]

10. I watched a short S.Korean news interview of a shipping expert yesterday

Last edited Tue Jan 5, 2021, 12:16 PM - Edit history (1)

He said based upon quarterly safety inspections of the integrity of the ship it was unlikely the ship was polluting. Also his examination of the video footage of the ship underway when it was taken by the Iranians did not show any plumes or discoloration of the water around the ship. It wasn't clear to me from the interview when the last inspection of the ship took place.

Other media reports have indicated the South Koreans owe Iran "billions" in arrears for fuel shipments and that the payments have been blocked by US sanctions. It was reported that this is issue behind the seizure.

This is a poor move by Iran. They should have waited until they had an administration in Washington with whom they could negotiate.

[IsItJustMe]

11. Probably not. Iran wants its money from S Korea and made up an excuse to get it. That is what

authoritarian regimes do. You have to look no further than our last election to figure that out. They don't play fair.

[machoneman]

5. What ever happened to the anti-piracy warships that used to protect Gulf traffic?

We saw on the news some time ago navy ships from the NATO countries, U.S. included of course, that actually fired upon and sank more than a few pirate boats. Now while they IIRC weren't Iranian navy boats/ships, where the heck did they go? Frigates, destroyers, destroyer escorts and even larger ships were used. Are they even near the Gulf these days?

[marble falls]

7. I think you mean the Indian Ocean, not the Persian Gulf.

[dware]

8. You're talking about the Indian Ocean where the Somali pirates

were quite active, in fact, the movie Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks, is based on just such an incident.

[Nitram]

13. I can only imagine this was a serious mistake on Iran's part.

It's going to be awkward to get out of this one. One the heels of shooting down a passenger airliner, this could have repercussions within Iran's government.