Coercive Piracy in the Strait of Hormuz

"[The Hankuk Chemi, which was carrying 7,200 tonnes of ethanol], was seized by our force’s [navy] this morning.”

"This tanker was headed from Saudi Arabia’s Al Jubail port and was seized due to the repeated infringement of maritime environmental laws."

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps statement 

"[My priority is to] verify the facts and ensure the safety of the crew members."

"We have been trying to figure out what happened through the Iranian embassy in South Korea and the South Korean embassy in Iran and are continuing to make efforts to address the situation."

South Korean foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha

Boats belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps converge on the on Jan. 4, 2021. Tasnim News/AFP via Getty Images

 

"A few minutes ago, the process of producing 20 percent enriched uranium has started in Fordow enrichment complex."

Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei

 

"Iran today began feeding uranium already enriched up to 4.1 percent U-235 into six centrifuge cascades at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant for further enrichment up to 20 percent."

International Atomic Energy Agency

With mere days left before a new administration enters the White House -- one that under a new president has signalled it intends to re-enter nuclear talks with the Iranian Republic, reversing the U.S. withdrawal from the program ostensibly intended to restrain Iran from developing nuclear weapons, the country, strangled by sanctions that have tied up its foreign investments and shipping of oil products to countries that have no wish to tread on U.S.-imposed sanctions for the risk of bringing sanctions down upon themselves -- Iran has struck out on a number of initiatives geared to rivet attention on its intentions.

Although Tehran insists it has only incrementally backtracked on the provisions of the 2015 nuclear pact, that the breaches are entirely the fault of the Trump administration, it has been no secret that despite major powers signing off on the pact with Iran it has continued surreptitiously continue its nuclear program and to breach a number of conditions aside from continuing its support of its proxy terrorist groups, the international incursions of the al Quds Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iraq and Syria, and the development of high-powered ballistic missiles.

Its violations of the accord did not begin in 2019 in response to the 2018 U.S. withdrawal and the reimposition of U.S. sanctions. Iran remained intent on producing fissile material for a nuclear bomb and to threaten the stability of the Middle East by conniving interference with its Sunni-majority Arab neighbours. "Our measures are fully reversible upon FULL compliance by ALL [parties to the deal]" tweeted Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. "The 'Move, if confirmed, would constitute a considerable departure from Iran's commitments", stated a spokesperson in Brussels for the European Union Commission.

Tuesday, January 5, 2021 photo of Iranian army chief of the General Staff Mohammad Hosein Bagheri, center, inspecting drones prior to a wide-ranging two-day aerial drill. Iranian Army via AP

Coincidentally, the same day that the Revolutionary Guard Corps boarded the the South Korean tanker Hankuk Chemi, ordering and escorting it to Iran, diverting it from its destination to the United Arab Emirates from Saudi Arabia, with the Guards' speedboats escorting the tanker and taking its twenty-member crew hostage in an agenda geared to force South Korea to surrender $7 billion it has withheld under U.S. sanctions, the Iranian military began a two-day aerial drill featuring combat and surveillance unmanned aircraft.

Naval drones were dispatched from vessels in Iran’s southern waters and footage of scores of drones on a runway in the northern province of Semnan near the vast Kavir Desert were featured on Iranian television. Previously such drills have been conducted with military drones and footage routinely released from surveillance drones of U.S. aircraft carriers passing through the Persian Gulf. "Suicide drones” that hover over a battlefield before diving down to a target, were given special prominence. 

 

The South Korean Navy's Cheonghae Unit leaves Hawaii following the 2012 iteration of the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise.

South Korea would prefer to settle the matter of its pirated tanker diplomatically, and will work toward that end. In the meantime, however, it has taken action that reflects the seriousness with which it regards Tehran's aggression, by sending into the Strait of Hormuz a South Korean destroyer; "The Cheonghae Unit arrived in waters near the Hormuz Strait earlier in the day," announced South Korean Defense Ministry spokesperson Boo Seung Chan during a press briefing. "It is carrying out missions to ensure the safety of our nationals."   

DOD

The statement on Jan. 3, 2021, from Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller regarding keeping Nimitz in the Middle East.