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Tanker dispute with Iran: South Korea sends naval unit to the Persian Gulf

2021-01-04T17:38:00.023Z


After Iran arrested a tanker flying the South Korean flag, South Korea sent an anti-piracy naval unit to the Persian Gulf. The incident occurs at a critical time.


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The tanker "Hankuk Chemi", sailing under the South Korean flag, is escorted by boats of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the Persian Gulf

Photo: Uncredited / dpa

After a South Korean flagged tanker was arrested through Iran, South Korea sent an anti-piracy naval unit to the Persian Gulf.

The Cheonghae unit with the destroyer "Choi Young" is on the way to the site of the incident, said the Foreign Ministry in Seoul.

It takes "security measures for our ships that are in the surrounding sea area."

No further details were given.

The ministry said that the tanker "Hankuk Chemi", which was on the way in the Strait of Hormuz near Oman, was going into the waters of Iran at the request of the Iranian authorities.

South Korea called on Iran to release the ship immediately.

Together with the South Korean embassy in Iran, it will be checked that all crew members of the chemical and oil products tanker are safe.

There were therefore 20 crew members on board, including five Koreans.

The others are from Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam.

The Iranian news agency Isna had previously reported, citing the country's Revolutionary Guard, that the tanker was being directed to the port city of Bandar Abbas.

The Revolutionary Guards accused the tanker's crew of polluting the waters in the Persian Gulf with its ethanol cargo.

The tanker came from the Saudi Arabian port of Al-Jubail and loaded 7200 tons of the chemical.

The case is reminiscent of the arrest of the British oil tanker “Stena Impero” in July 2019. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards had confiscated the ship in the Strait of Hormuz because it had allegedly rammed a fishing boat.

They released it two months later.

Tensions in the Gulf region have escalated significantly since the United States' policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran after it withdrew from the international nuclear agreement in 2018.

Ships were attacked several times in the Strait of Hormuz, drones were shot down and oil tankers were confiscated.

A fifth of the world's oil production is transported through the strategically important strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

The incident comes at a politically tense time.

According to the government, Iran started enriching uranium to 20 percent on Monday, which would be a clear violation of the international nuclear agreement.

Icon: The mirror

bmo / dpa / AFP

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-01-04

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