Strait of Hormuz. (Photo: STR/AFP)
The International Maritime Organization (IMO), the shipping body of the UN, will hold a session on Wednesday to discuss the issue of shipping in the Middle East amid concerns about the fate of thousands of ships and seafarers without a place to go.
The UN organization, which is based in London and is responsible for the regulation of international shipping safety, will consider possible solutions during the two-day meeting at its headquarters.
The IMO’s council of 40 may vote on Thursday on several proposed solutions, including to “ensure a safe passage to enable the flow of ships and seafarers in the Persian Gulf that cannot go further”.
The meeting – which is open to all 176 member states, as well as dozens of non-governmental and maritime industry organizations – comes as Iran’s attacks come after airstrikes by Israel and the US have brought commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz to a standstill.
An effective Iranian blockade of this critical shipping route – through which about a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gases normally move – has caused oil prices to rise sharply and made markets restless.
According to the IMO, about 20,000 seafarers were stranded on about 3,200 vessels west of the strait.
At least 21 ships have been hit, targeted or reported attacks since the beginning of the conflict.
A submission by the United Arab Emirates to the IMO ahead of the meeting shows that “more than 18 merchant ships of various nationalities have been hit by missiles, drones and sea mines”.
“At least eight seafarers have died, while four are still missing,” reads the document submitted on Monday.
‘Unjustifiable’ attacks
Britain, France, Germany and several other countries, including Gulf countries, requested the IMO Council to adopt a statement strongly condemning the “blatant attacks” by Iran on its neighbours.
Those countries said Iran had “threatened and attacked commercial vessels and seafarers, as well as civilian maritime infrastructure”, and that these attacks “are unjust and must be stopped”.
The countries also called for a similar condemnation of Tehran’s “alleged closure of the Strait of Hormuz”.
Iran, which is an IMO member but does not serve on the council, in its submission attributed the “current weakening of the maritime security environment” to attacks by Israel and the US.
“The adverse maritime consequences currently affecting shipping and seafarers are a direct and inevitable consequence of this illegal action and cannot be considered in isolation from the underlying cause,” Iran argued.
Japan, Panama, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates have separately requested the IMO to help “establish a framework for the safe evacuation of seafarers and ships stranded in the Gulf”.
This will “facilitate the safe evacuation of merchant ships from high-risk and affected areas to a safe place, avoid military attacks and protect and secure the maritime domain”.
Meanwhile, bodies in the maritime industry called for a “coordinated international approach to safety”, stressing that “the well-being of seafarers must be taken into account”.
They are asking for measures to ensure that “communication with their countries can be maintained, crew replacements and disembarkation can be facilitated, and that supplies are sufficient for the needs of seafarers”.
Is USA, Israel locked in protracted war
Iran’s army and air force have been hit hard, while about 80% of Iran’s ability to fire missiles, according to him, has already been destroyed. (Photo: MARTIN LELIEVRE / AFP)
Jaco Kleynhans, head of international relations at Solidarity, says the military operation in Iran has already lasted two and a half weeks and the big question is whether the USA and Israel will be caught in a longer, protracted conflict.
According to him, there were indeed significant breakthroughs for Israel and the USA at that time.
Iran’s army and air force have been hit hard, while about 80% of Iran’s ability to fire missiles, according to him, has already been destroyed.
Kleynhans also points out that pres. Donald Trump said at the beginning of the war that the conflict should be over within a few weeks. Still, the fighting continues, raising questions about how much longer the war will last.
According to Kleynhans, countries such as the United Arab Emirates also believe that the Iranian regime poses a threat to the Gulf region. These countries, he says, have had enough of what he describes as the terror and disruptive influence of the ayatollahs in the region. – Helene Mocke
Iran threatens retaliation after death of Larijani, Soleimani
Members of Israel’s security forces at a train station in Tel Aviv that was damaged by shrapnel. (Photo: Jack Guez/AFP)
On Wednesday, Iran threatened “decisive” retaliation after the death of Ali Larijani, the country’s security chief. In response to the announcement of his death, Iran fired a wave of missiles at Israel, which is responsible for Larijani’s death.
A series of Iranian missiles led to two deaths near Tel Aviv, while Gulf states intercepted missiles and drones aimed at targets including US bases in the region.
On Wednesday, Iran will hold funerals for Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani, another influential figure who was killed by Israel on Tuesday. Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary force, was also killed in an attack, according to the news agencies Fars and Tasnim.
Larijani is the most prominent figure of the Islamic republic to be killed since Israel and the US launched their attacks on Iran on February 28. The attacks also led to the death of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sparked the war in the Middle East.
“Iran’s response to the assassination of the secretary of the national security council will be decisive and regrettable,” Amir Hatami, the head of Iran’s army, said in a statement.
In addition to attacks with missiles and drones on Israel and Gulf states, Iran also tried to put further pressure on the world economy, among other things by pushing up the price of oil by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz – a key route for crude oil.
With oil still hovering around $100 a barrel, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Wednesday that the global consequences of the war “have only just begun and will hit everyone”.
As part of efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil is transported, the US military said it used some of the heaviest bombs in its arsenal to strike nearby missile bases.
The US dropped several bombs weighing about 2,250 kg each – with an estimated cost of $288,000 each – on “fortified Iranian missile bases” near the coast that posed a threat to international shipping, the central command said.
Pres. Donald Trump of the US said earlier on Tuesday that US allies, who have largely distanced themselves from the war, are not acting with the US to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
However, Trump also said that the US military does not need allies and wrote on his Truth Social platform “we don’t need anybody’s help”.
National awakening
An archive photo of Ali Larijani that Iran shared earlier. (Photo: Iran Supreme National Security/AFP)
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which said Wednesday it had fired missiles at Israel in retaliation, warned that Larijani’s death would incite further attacks.
The “pure blood of this great martyr… will be a source of honor, strength and national awakening against the front of global arrogance”, the military said in a statement.
Hakan Fidan, Turkey’s foreign minister, sharply criticized Israel and condemned its “political assassinations” of Tehran’s leaders as “illegal actions outside the normal laws of war”.
However, Israel has pledged to also target Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. He has not appeared in public since his appointment.
“We don’t know about Mojtaba Khamenei, we don’t hear him, we don’t see him, but I can tell you one thing: We will track him down, find him and neutralize him,” Brig.Gen. Effie Defrin, Israeli military spokeswoman, told reporters.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, again advocated the end of the Islamic republic, although he and Trump did not explicitly say this was their goal.
The overthrow of Iran’s authorities by the people “will not happen overnight, it will not be easy. But if we persevere, we will give them the chance to take their own destiny into their own hands,” Netanyahu said in a televised speech.
In contrast to Mojtaba Khamenei, Larijani (68) recently walked openly with crowds at a pro-government demonstration in Tehran.
“He was in fact the figure in charge of the regime’s survival, its regional policy and its defense strategy,” said David Khalfa, co-founder of the Atlantic Middle East Forum.
“The supreme leader gives the order, but he is the one who carries it out. He is the right hand.”
Earlier, Israel also said that it also targeted Akram al-Ajouri, head of the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in an attack in Iran.
Deaths near Tel Aviv
The Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman, an important route for global oil exports (Photo: Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto/AFP)
In Israel, medics said two people died after an Iranian missile attack caused extensive damage to a building near Tel Aviv.
AFP journalists also heard loud explosions in Dubai, the economic hub where the usual sense of security has been shaken by persistent Iranian attacks.
In rare internal criticism in Trump’s ranks, Joseph Kent, head of the US National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation.
Kent wrote that Iran poses no “immediate threat” to the US and that the war was started “under pressure from Israel and its influential American lobbyists”.
Trump rejected the criticism and labeled Kent “very poor on security”. – AFP