Iran seizes U.S. ship, 34 sailors
Iran has fired at a U.S. cargo ship and has directed it to Bandar Abbas port on the southern coast of Iran, Al Arabiya News Channel has reported on Tuesday.
Up to 34 American sailors are believed to be onboard the ship, Al Arabiya reported.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/mid...lors-.html
DUBAI, April 28 (Reuters) - Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television said an Iranian "force" seized a U.S. cargo ship after opening fire on it in the Gulf on Tuesday and directed it to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/28...61152.html
This is serious. This does not happen with out Moscow's consent.
Seems there are conflicting reports. I found an Independent article that said the ship was seized and that it wasn't in the same article. The article also indicated that the Pentagon was sending a Destroyer into the area in response...to a seizure that nobody is confirming happened. If it is indeed confirmed, and the ship was in international waters, my guess is there will be a limp wristed response from the United States as they continue to desperately push for some sort of agreement on the previously reported "framework" deal on Iranian nukes.
Quote:This is serious. This does not happen with out Moscow's consent.
Agreed. If it turns out to be true, and they did fire on a US flagged ship, that's treading dangerously close to an act of war, and there's no way the Iranians would be this brash without Russian approval.
If true really not good, I'm seeing it reported on a few different websites.
NBC News is saying the reports are false.
Quote:NBC News is saying the reports are false.
That would be good news
So it looks like they did seize A ship, what isn't clear is who's ship or who's on it.
https://www.yahoo.com/politics/iran-dive...09431.html
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps ships intercepted a Marshall Islands-flagged commercial cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, forcing it “further into Iranian waters,” the Pentagon said. Multiple U.S. government sources said there were no Americans aboard the Maersk Tigris.
Yeah, now it's a Marshall Islands cargo ship, and there's still no clarity about whether it was seized or not. The Pentagon is saying this unconfirmed action is inappropriate. Harsh words. I'm sure Iran is terrified.
Why was the ship seized? Any word on that or is it all speculation at this point.
Quote:Why was the ship seized? Any word on that or is it all speculation at this point.
I thought I saw an article say they wandered into Iranian waters but I'm not sure, this story has changed a couple of times in the last few hours.
Quote:I thought I saw an article say they wandered into Iranian waters but I'm not sure, this story has changed a couple of times in the last few hours.
Not a difficult thing to do in the Persian Gulf.
Quote:NBC News is saying the reports are false.
Brian Williams reported he was on the ship when it was seized.
Quote:Brian Williams reported he was on the ship when it was seized.
<snicker>
Quote:Brian Williams reported he was on the ship when it was seized.
LOL!
From what I understand, the ship is NOT an American ship and does not have any Americans on-board. It's not clear where exactly the ship was encountered/engaged by the Iranian navy.
Technically speaking, a ship going through the Strait of Hormuz will
in fact travel through Iranian territorial waters. That's not really enough to justify the Iranians for boarding it or stopping it.
My guess is that Iran is trying to "flex their muscles" after their naval warships and a convoy or suspected weapons were basically "
turned around" with the presence of superior U.S. Navy forces in the area. I'm willing to bet that once a U.S. Navy destroyer gets into the area, the ship will be released and escorted out of Iranian waters.
This was simply a ploy for Iran to spread more propaganda in their country by saying that they fired on and seized a U.S. ship.
Quote:Iran seizes U.S. ship, 34 sailors
Iran has fired at a U.S. cargo ship and has directed it to Bandar Abbas port on the southern coast of Iran, Al Arabiya News Channel has reported on Tuesday.
Up to 34 American sailors are believed to be onboard the ship, Al Arabiya reported.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/mid...lors-.html
DUBAI, April 28 (Reuters) - Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television said an Iranian "force" seized a U.S. cargo ship after opening fire on it in the Gulf on Tuesday and directed it to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/28...61152.html
The article link you posted wrote;
The ship had no U.S. citizens aboard, the spokesman said, contradicting earlier reports which said there were 34 U.S. sailors on board
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If it was a US military ship with US Navy Sailors on board it wouldve been an act of war and thus on CNN.
Quote:The article link you posted wrote;
The ship had no U.S. citizens aboard, the spokesman said, contradicting earlier reports which said there were 34 U.S. sailors on board
-----------------------
If it was a US military ship with US Navy Sailors on board it wouldve been an act of war and thus on CNN.
That's why I posted 2 articles, they countered each other and I was hoping for more reseach and discussion
It's not an act of war at all, but what is concerning is the act itself. If the Iranians continue to disrupt travel through that area, this could easily escalate into something more serious. As I stated earlier, this is nothing more than a propaganda ploy for the Iranian Government to give mis-leading information to their citizens.
Rest assured, the container ship will probably be released soon, especially with a U.S. Navy presence in the area.
Quote:This is serious. This does not happen with out Moscow's consent.
Why does everyone automatically assume that Russia has everything to do with every negative thing happening to America right now? seriously; Russia has nothing to gain by getting into a conflict with either the United States or EU. The Cold War ended a quarter of a century ago.