Iran's more activated Revolutionary Guard Navy

File photo of merchant ship Alpine Eternity, unsuccessfully seized by IRGC-N on 14MAY15

According to the Wall Street Journal:

For the second time in two weeks, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Naval patrol boats confronted a commercial ship moving through the strait and ordered it into Iranian waters on Thursday, according to U.S. officials.

[…]

U.S. officials said the attempted seizure appeared to stem from a dispute from March 22, when the Alpine Eternity hit an Iranian oil rig. The tanker damaged the Iranian rig, but left the scene before the issue could be resolved, U.S. officials said. Iran demanded that the ship’s owner pay for the damage and threatened to seize the Alpine Eternity if the issue wasn’t resolved, one U.S. official said.

[…]

Three IRGC naval patrol boats ordered the tanker to shift course and head into Iranian waters, U.S. officials said. When the commercial ship’s crew refused, the Iranian boats fired warning shots to try to force the Alpine Eternity to follow their orders, according to the U.S. military and officials with the ship’s Norwegian operator.

When that didn’t work, the Iranian boats tried to “disable” the Alpine Eternity, apparently by opening fire with machine guns directly at the ship, said one U.S. official.

The Iranian boats then pursued the commercial vessel for close to an hour as it headed for port in the United Arab Emirates, American officials said. The Iranians broke off pursuit only when the U.A.E. Coast Guard ships came to the aid of the Alpine Eternity. Kai Bjorkelund, director of Transpetrol TM AS, the Norwegian operator of the Alpine Eternity, said the crew was safe and the Iranian boats caused no damage to the tanker.

COMMENTARY: Evidently IRGC-N have determined a more assertive stance in the Persian Gulf is in order; this being the second time in a matter of weeks this navy has played the role of sheriff in attempting to collect debts Iran claims are owed from shipping companies.

From the U.S. military-provided description of what took place, it sounds as if IRGC-N utilized HSPBs in what turned out to be an unsuccessful ship seizure operation. Using Thondar-class missile craft would have enabled IRGC-N to utilize a Type 69/AK-230 type fully automatic naval twin 30 mm gun, potentially escalating tensions even further. Admittedly, type of vessel(s) used in the operation is speculative given the highly generalized details that have been provided to the press. Nevertheless, the potential use of BuMusa (Abu Musa) in this attempt serves to illustrate the inherent tactical advantages that island provides Iran’s IRGC-N, and the underlying discontent this causes to GCC.

It may well be IRGC-N feels compelled to take a more assertive, challenging role in the Persian Gulf, while USN and the Saudi-led coalition have taken such an active military role at the Gulf of Aden. Noteworthy also is that both Maersk cargo ship and Alpine Eternity transited GCC ports (see table below), for it's understood IRGC discerns the Yemen revolution and conflict within their own historical experience of Iran's revolution being defended against what they term the Imposed War of 1980-1988.

The incident may also be revealing in that U.S. officials (not Iranian officials) went public with details of Iran’s compensation dispute with Alpine Eternity and Transpetrol TM A, suggestive of a direct, diplomatic communication between the United States and Iran, which if indeed did take place, might not have been so readily possible prior to nuclear negotiations undertaken since 2013.

Below are tables related to Alpine Eternity [source: AIS Marine Traffic]:

UAE Complains to UN over Iran’s Raising Flag in Abu Musa

The United Arab Emirates today launched a complaint with the UN against Iran, saying Iran has raised its national flag over the island of Abu Musa that belongs to UAE. The Emiratis believe that under a memorandum of understanding signed in 1971 with Iran, the island should be under UAE’s administration.

“The Government of the United Arab Emirates strongly protests against that step, which it considers to be a flagrant violation of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that does not affect the legal status of the island,” UAE Ambassador to the UN Lana Zaki Nusseibeh wrote in a letter to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday.

The UAE “stresses that the 1971 memorandum of understanding did not transfer sovereignty over the island of Abu Musa or any part thereof to the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the UAE complaint said. Adding that since 1980, Iran has taken measures on the island that “violate the MOU with a view to bringing the island under Iranian sovereignty… The Government of the United Arab Emirates hereby calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to rescind those measures, immediately remove the Iranian flag and comply scrupulously with the 1971 memorandum of understanding,” Ambassador Nusseibeh said in her letter.

Iran rejects UAE’s claims over the three islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs in the Persian Gulf. In 1971, the Shah’s government agreed with the departing British to take over the three islands in return for dropping its historical claim over Bahrain. Today, Iran said UAE’s complaint about raising the flag over Abu Musa is interference in internal affairs of Iran.

Hossein Dehghani, Iranian Charge d'Affaires at the UN, wrote to the secretary general that Iran has “full sovereignty” over the three islands, adding that measures undertaken there by Iran have “always been conducted on the basis of the principles of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“It is obvious that the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran over the said islands is not negotiable,” Dehghani added in his letter.

UAE has asked Iran to jointly refer their disputes over the three islands to the International Court of Justice.

Map credit: The three islands in the Persian Gulf. (Library of Congress)

US Defense News report on PG islands 'fabricated' - IRI Foreign Ministry

 

 According to FARS News Agency:

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday categorically rejected a US media report claiming that Tehran has come into terms with the UAE over the sovereignty of its trio islands, stressing that Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb islands in the Persian Gulf are inseparable parts of Iran.

“The Iranian embassy (in the UAE) has rejected the claim of the journal (US Defense News), and I reiterated here that the report is completely false and no agreement has been made (on the three islands),” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said in her weekly press conference in Tehran on Tuesday.

Afkham described the report as a propaganda effort made to harm the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

This shouldn't be considered a surprise to anybody. There were a number of Gulf sources in the US Defense News article but none from Iran. That in itself suggested the report be best viewed with skepticism.

For a reminder on how Iran regards the three islands, observers would do well to direct their attention toward the names of the three artificial islands recently created at Tehran District 22's "Persian Gulf Martyrs Lake." They're called "Abu Musa Martyrs Island," "Greater Tonb Martyrs Island," and "Lesser Tonb Martyrs Island." For details, click HERE.

Iran Warns to Cut UAE Ties Over Three Islands

Iran warned it may cut UAE ties over its claim to the three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb.

“If the baseless anti-Iranian claims reach a point where national interests lie in lessening or cutting political relations, this step will be taken with consultation and based on expert analysis,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast. “The Islamic Republic of Iran stands firm in defense of its territorial integrity,” he added. (IRNA, 9 October)

The three islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb sit near the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The British transferred the sovereignty over the islands to Iran in 1971. In return, the Shah’s government recognized the independence of Bahrain, which until then was regarded by Iran as an Iranian province. The UAE, which came into being after the agreement with the British, claims sovereignty over the islands.

Abu Musa, the largest of the islands, sits off the coast of UAE’s emirate of Sharjah. The UAE has opposed Iran’s “occupation” of the three islands.

“We hope the Iranian government will deal with this sensitive and important issue (the three islands) in a positive and just manner,” said UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan during his speech at U.N. General Assembly in September. He added that the “occupation of the three islands were against international law.” (Reuters)

Iran Reiterates Position on Three Islands

Iran’s permanent mission to the UN said in a letter to the Security Council that the islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb are “inseparable part of Iranian territory.” The letter also said that the visit by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Abu Musa on 11 April was in line with “Iran’s sovereign rights and the principles of its territorial integrity.


The UAE has laid claims over the three islands and regarded Ahmadinejad’s visit to Abu Musa as a violation of its territorial sovereignty. In the letter to the Security Council, Iran called for “constructive” talks with UAE to clear “misunderstandings” over the islands. [IRNA/Press TV, 21 April].

GCC to Meet Over Ahmadinejad’s Visit to Abu Musa

The GCC member countries plan to meet next week to discuss a dispute between the UAE and Iran which broke out after the Iranian president visited Abu Musa Island which is claimed by the UAE.

The UAE has recalled its ambassador to Tehran after President Ahmadinejad’s visit, calling it a "flagrant violation" of its sovereignty. Iran has rejected the UAE’s claim, calling the visit an internal matter.

Source: Reuter, 14 April 2012

UAE Recalls Ambassador from Iran

Protest against President Ahmadinejad’s Visit to Abu Musa

The UAE has recalled its ambassador to Tehran after a visit today by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Abu Musa Island in the Persian Gulf. The island, some 60 km (40 miles) off the UAE coast, along with the Greater and Lesser Tunb islands, has been held by Iran since 1971 in a deal worked out by the Shah’s government with the departing Britain to recognize the independence of Bahrain in return for the ownership of the three islands. The UAE, not yet formed at the time of the British-Iranian agreement, also claims ownership of the islands.

The UAE foreign ministry called President Ahmadinejad’s visit to Abu Musa a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty.

Ahmadinejad's visit "is a flagrant violation of the United Arab Emirates' sovereignty over its territory and a transgression of efforts to find a peaceful settlement to end Iranian occupation of the three UAE islands," UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said [WAM/Reuters, 12 April].

In Tehran, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian rejected the protests and said Ahmadinejad's visit was an "internal Iranian matter [Fars News Agency, 12 April].