The Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Advantage Sweet (VesselFinder)
UPDATE, APR 29:
The website OilPrice reports that Iran’s seizure of a US-bound Supermax tanker in international waters on Thursday was retaliation for an American confiscation of a cargo of Iranian crude oil.
On Friday, maritime security company Ambrey told clients that the US seized the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Suez Rajan last Saturday. The American navy was implementing a court order that tanker’s movement of Iranian oil violated US sanctions.
“Both tankers were Suezmax-sized. Iran has previously responded tit-for-tat following seizures of Iranian oil cargo,” Ambrey said.
The Suez Rajan’s last known position was off the coast of southern Africa.
Tehran has retaliated before. In July 2019, Iran seized the UK-flagged tanker Stena Impero in the Straits of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil passes. Two weeks earlier, UK Marines had participated in the impoundment of an Iranian tanker for sanctions violations.
Both vessels were released in September.
ORIGINAL ENTRY, APR 27: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seized a US-bound oil tanker in international waters in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday.
The US Navy’s 5th Fleet said the Guards took over the Advantage Sweet, at about 1:15 p.m. local time, as the ship’s crew issued a distress call.
The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker left Kuwait on Tuesday and was bound for Houston, Texas with oil for Chevron.
“Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability. The Iranian government should immediately release the oil tanker,” the Fleet said in a statement.|
The Guards have seized at least five commercial vessels in the international waters of the Straits of Hormuz, Persian Gulf, and Gulf of Oman over the past two years. About 20% of the world’s oil is carried through the waters.
Iran has also carried out a series of drone strikes on ships linked to Israeli owners, as Israel targeted Iranian ships moving oil to the Assad regimein Syria.
Iranian Insider and British Spy: How a Double Life Ended on the Gallows: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/world/middleeast/british-spy-execution-iran.html
“In January, Iran executed a former senior official who provided Britain with valuable intelligence on Iranian nuclear and military programs over a decade, according to Western intelligence officials.”
The reality all along was that Ali Reza Akbari was a double agent. “Akbari was indeed a spy and began leaking Iranian nuclear secrets to the British in 2004 — keeping his activities hidden for 15 years……..Akbari also reportedly turned over the names of around 100 senior Iranian officials to British authorities, including that of Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was killed in November 2020 in an attack that Tehran blames on Israel.” https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-israel-got-intel-on-irans-secret-nuclear-weapons-program-from-executed-spy/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-64829798
“Alastair Hay, a professor of environmental toxicology at the University of Leeds, has reviewed the results of blood tests from some of the Iranian schoolgirls, but said no toxins had been detected. He said he was sent these results unofficially from sources in Iran. “It’s difficult to rule anything in or out at this point as that would require a full screening for a whole variety of things,” said Prof Hay, who has investigated suspected chemical attacks across the world. However, he said, from what he had seen, it was unlikely that a nerve agent or an organophosphate poison – like those used in pesticides – could be responsible.”
“Chemical weapons expert Dan Kaszeta, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), said that “finding the alleged causative substance is often the only useful evidence, but can be extremely difficult”. As substances can dissipate or degrade, collecting a sample “pretty much requires you to be there, with the right equipment, at the time of exposure.” Many witness accounts from Iran have focused on smells – describing a tangerine or rotten fish odour – but this can be misleading, he said. “The various odours described in the Iranian incidents are difficult to tie to particular chemical hazards,” he said.”
“John Drury, a psychologist at the University of Sussex, told Nature that previous poison scares “led to symptoms such as nausea, fainting, and hyperventilation” and that “it is hard to distinguish between psychogenic effects and exposure to actual hazards.” https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00754-2
[Editor’s Note: As noted before, this opinion is not based on examination of the evidence in Iran — something which is not possible for anyone outside the country — but on speculation drawing from other cases.]
UK professor claims the case of “mass poisonings” in Iran is really a case of “mass sociogenic illness”: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-64829798
“Prof Simon Wessely, a psychiatrist and epidemiologist at King’s College London, said several “key epidemiological factors” led him to believe these were not a chain of poisonings, but were instead a case of “mass sociogenic illness” – in which symptoms spread among a group with no obvious biomedical cause. The spread of cases across the country and the fact it has been predominantly affecting schoolgirls, with fewer boys and adults falling ill, were central to his conclusion, he said. The nature of the symptoms and the fact most patients quickly recovered were also key, he said. In cases of mass sociogenic illness, the symptoms experienced are real, but they are caused by anxiety, not toxic poisoning.”
[Editor’s Note: This is the regime’s Intelligence Ministry “report” trying to deny evidence of poisoning in any of the 100s of cases involving 1000s of affected schoolgirls.
The link in the last paragraph is misrepesented: “Independent experts” have *not* said is “mass psychogenic disorder” because no independent experts have carried out an examination of the cases since last November.]
No signs of toxic substances discovered in schools: : https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/484137/No-signs-of-toxic-substances-discovered-in-schools-Intelligence
“The Intelligence ministry said that five elements, including stink bombs, pepper spray, odorous agents that cause panic, anti-security objectives, and agents that cause mass hysteria, were involved in causing or triggering illness at various schools around the country…..Based on the ministry’s field and laboratory results, “malingering” was one of the proven causes of the occurrences, with the goal of fun, skipping lectures and examinations, and, in a few cases, fomenting unrest and riots…..The statement added, “Toxic substances have not been distributed in any of the nation’s schools, but non-toxic agents that have caused panic have been used accidentally or purposefully in some reported settings.”
Independent experts have attributed the illnesses to mass psychogenic disorder: https://www.wionews.com/world/mystery-of-the-poisoned-schoolgirls-in-iran-a-case-of-mass-psychogenic-illness-569037
Iran dams in good state thanks to heavy rain: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/04/25/702215/Iran-hydroelectric-output-increase-forecast-
Precipitation over the spring has been very good this year, especially on the central Iranian plateau, meaning that farmers are unlikely to protests water shortages and also that hydroelectric dams have enough raw material to generate sufficient amounts of electricity and avoid disruptive blackouts in some parts of the country. Iran is the 12th largest producer of electricity in the world, surpassing Italy, Turkey and the UK: https://yearbook.enerdata.net/electricity/world-electricity-production-statistics.html
Huh! And that’s despite women refusing to wear hijub and “jiggling their breasts”? So your islam was wrong in suggesting sight of women’s body causes drought and earthquakes?
The rain only fell after the protests essentially came to an end. Think about that. September-December 2022 were one of the driest months on record.
Leader meets and praises workers, acknowleges their legitimate grievances: https://www.mehrnews.com/news/5766112
“There have been a number of labor protests. As far as I know, some of these protests have been legitimate, and have been over delayed salaries, transfer of a business to another etity and other issues……“if workers have no worries about their job security, their performance and the quality of products will improve accordingly.”
[Editor’s Note: The perspective from Iran State media….]
More on the fallout of the divisions within the “opposition”: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/04/27/702340/Made-in-West-Iranian-%E2%80%98opposition%E2%80%99-in-self-destruct-mode
“The alliance with other “opposition” figures abroad has not been possible mainly because Pahlavi’s supporters have attacked other members of the group, stating that he should be recognized as the only “leader” given his royal lineage……Another internal conflict that is preventing the construction of an alternative is, for example, the confrontation between some nationalist “opposition” members and the decentralization plans promoted by other so-called “opposition” members.”
What is meant by this is that some oppositionists favor a united central government whereas others want a federal structure with autonomy for ethnic regions.
Iranian exiled opposition in disarray: https://www.iranintl.com/en/202304228303
“The resignation of Hamed Esmaeilion from the Alliance for Freedom and Democracy in Iran has sparked bitter arguments between monarchists and his supporters. Boniadi recently deactivated her social media accounts without any explanation and appears to have withdrawn from the alliance too. Alinejad, Mohtadi, and Ebadi have so far not commented on Esmaeilion’s resignation. He claimed that he had tried to keep away from “conflicts, pressures and illogical demands” but was impeded by “pressure groups from the outside” who kept trying to impose their own views on the coalition by “undemocratic methods”.
Iran’s Divided Conservatives Get Ready For Parliamentary Elections
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202304294401
Iran’s President Snubbed And Slammed During Visit To Khuzestan
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202304284947
[Editor’s Note: This is misleading. While there was a token list of “reformists”, many chose not to run given the obstacles set by the regime. Others were barred from candidacy by the Guardian Council.]
“During the 2020 parliamentary elections, and Presidential election of 2021 conservatives at least pretended to be united in the absence of their reformist rivals. ”
It is a lie that reformists were not present at the last elections. They presented a 20-man list for the Tehran constituency (led by Majid Ansari) and had 180 other candidates running elsewhere in the country under a list called “Helpers of Reforms”: https://www.khabaronline.ir/news/1353515
Reformists, however, ended up winning just 20 seats. Reform-minded independents won more seats.
The tanker was seized following the theft of Iranian oil by the U.S: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/US-Seizes-Iranian-Oil-From-Tanker.html#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20recently%20confiscated,off%20the%20coast%20of%20Oman.