Two questions: from where and to where?
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have seized a foreign oil tanker in the Gulf that was smuggling fuel to Arab states, Iran’s state TV reported, adding that seven sailors onboard had been detained.
“The IRGC’s naval forces have seized a foreign oil tanker in the Persian Gulf that was smuggling fuel for some Arab countries,” the broadcaster quoted the IRGC commander, Ramezan Zirahi, as saying.
Smuggling? What is that about? Arabs selling fuel to Arabs? How does that constitute smuggling? Are these people now out of their minds?
5 comments:
There's probably more to that than seen at first glance.
“Whether this latest oil tanker was in fact smuggling oil or not, the United States will point to this latest incident as more incentive for allies to join ‘Operation Sentinel,’ she added.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-tanker-seizure-oil-gulf-strait-middle-east-latest-a9038526.html
I withhold judgement on any news I read out of that area. There are too many conflicting interests including the Western press.
Fuel, not oil.
There’s a whole network of refined products smuggling through out the region, because of corruption, varying tax rates and pricing.
Pretend that the TranCanada was a waterway. You would have regular convoys smuggling Alberta gas to BC pumps so that the difference could be pocketed.
In the Gulf as well you have decades of “policing” of oil by the West which has lead to vast networks of smuggling and a lot of expertise. The smugglers are in it for themselves. They will happily help Iran smuggle product out, just as happily try to rip Iran off.
What could this 'oil' possibly be other than Iraqi? Why would Iraq goad Iran?
Iran arrests ships smuggling fuel into Iran from other Gulf States. The smuggled fuel undercuts State Revinues and Taxes, and fuels the Black Market and other criminality.
Iran also arrests ships smuggling “stolen” Iranian fuel out of the country.
The ship has not been identified, other than it is a small coastal tanker.
Part of Iran’s problem, (all the Gulf nations) is that there has long been “state sanctioned” oil and refined fuel smuggling networks, as means of bypassing Western Sanctions, and also as a means of wageing economic warfare on neighbors. Because of this, not all “state sanctioned” smugglers stay “state sanctioned”, nor are even the “state sanctioned” smugglers above some illegal smuggling on the side.
Because of the broad disparities between the economies of the Gulf States, the large amount of coastal shipping, a lot of money can be made by moving fuel across borders. Even Sawdi Arabia has a problem with this, having slashed subsidies and benifits that propped up support for the state.
Based on the reported size of the ship, if the ship were engaged in smuggling Iranian fuel out of Iran, and into Sawdi Arabia, the ship owners would have made a cool $4.5 million dollars.
I think Jay has the background answers. The trigger for the current situation can be traced to
"With the seizure of a supertanker off Gibraltar, distracted UK government was set up by John Bolton as collateral damage"
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