South Korea sends troops, contacts other nations after Iran seizes ship

South Korea is sending military forces to respond to the seizure of one of its tankers by Iran, a company in which it seeks to work with other nations operating in the region.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s elite announced Monday that its Zulfiqar fleet had seized a South Korean ship operating in the Islamic Republic’s first naval district in the Persian Gulf “due to a series of violations of laws on the ‘maritime environment’ after leaving the port of Al-Jubail in Saudi Arabia.

The boat, Hankuk Chemi, would carry up to 7,200 tons of petroleum-based chemicals and carry a crew of South Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Burmese nationals. The ship and crew are being held at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, where the Revolutionary Guards have said “the matter must be dealt with by the judicial authorities”.

In response to the incident, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said Newsweek the country, officially known as the Republic of Korea (ROK), had “sent anti-piracy troops near the Strait of Hormuz for the ROK tanker directly.”

Asked whether South Korea would seek support from the International Maritime Security Construct, a coalition of at least nine countries led by the United States designed to prevent acts of sabotage and prevent Iran from seizing international ships after a turbulent 2019 near the Strait of Hormuz, the official said. Seoul has sought “close cooperation regarding ROK government anti-piracy naval troops and multinational corporations.”

The Strait of Hormuz is the most important choke point for maritime oil traffic in the world and a recurring flashpoint for US-Iranian tensions and threats which have worsened sharply since Donald Trump took office in 2017.

U.S. Central Command’s 5th Navy Fleet did not immediately respond NewsweekThis is for comment.

The United States and South Korea are military allies, and although their mutual defense has been established to ward off attacks from rival North Korea, it requires them to come to the other’s aid in the event of ” external armed attack ”.

Concerns over possible escalations in the Persian Gulf are particularly acute around the first anniversary last weekend of the US murder of the Quds Revolutionary Force commander Major General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq.

The Iranian Permanent Mission to United Nations Spokesman Alireza Miryousefi recently denounced the murder of the influential and controversial Iranian military leader last year as “something which has been almost universally condemned as an illegal and terrorist act (even by the American allies) “. He added that “it has not affected Iran’s national security policy.”

“What he has done is to illustrate to the whole world the true nature of the administration in flouting international law and standards, and the desperation it feels in its inability to bring Iran to its knees,” he said. Newsweek. “Iran has endured Trump and his allies and will pursue its foreign and security policy as it always has.”

Miryousefi added a warning.

“It appears that the United States is setting traps or provocations to provide an excuse to start armed conflict in the final days of administration,” he said. “Iran is fully prepared to defend itself and, if it does, will react openly and decisively.”

The US military has flown nuclear-capable B-52 bombers over the Middle East twice in recent weeks in a show of force against the Islamic Republic, which Trump accused of plotting to attack interests Americans following a rocket attack that hit the Washington embassy in Baghdad last month.

The US leader has just over two weeks in office but refused to acknowledge the electoral victory of his rival, President-elect Joe Biden, who signaled a more diplomatic approach to Iran. Uncertainty over Trump’s actions has spread around the world, and friends and foes alike have been keeping a close eye on U.S. moves.

the USS Nimitz The aircraft carrier was due to leave the region but was ordered to stay abruptly due to “recent threats by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other U.S. government officials,” according to a statement released by the secretary on Sunday. to Acting Defense Chris Miller. “No one should doubt the determination of the United States of America,” he added.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry has called for the early release of Hankuk Chemi, the last international vessel seized by the Revolutionary Guards, which has a history of detaining foreign vessels deemed to endanger maritime traffic or in violation of rules near or within critical passage.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said more information about the incident would be released soon, but argued that “the matter is purely technical” and related to the alleged pollution of the waterway by the ship.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, like other countries, is sensitive to such violations, especially pollution of the marine environment, so it will deal with them within the framework of the law,” Khatibzadeh said. “This incident is not exceptional and has occurred in previous similar cases in Iran and in the waters of other countries, and it is normal.”

The incident came as South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha was due to visit Tehran.

South Korea was one of Iran’s major buyers of oil before the Trump administration imposed sanctions following the United States’ unilateral exit from a 2015 nuclear deal in 2018. Tehran officials have since urged Seoul to release billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen by South Korea due to its adherence to US sanctions, although South Korea has so far refused despite successive meetings on the matter.

Iran also maintains friendly ties with North Korea, another US-sanctioned state with which South Korea has struggled to improve relations in an unprecedented peace process that began when Washington left the Iran nuclear deal two and a half years ago. The relationship between the United States and North Korea has since frayed, leaving their future uncertain before Biden’s inauguration scheduled for January 20 and the upcoming Eighth North Korea Party Congress to be held this month- this.

As for Washington and Tehran, things remain particularly tense as Iran – which, unlike North Korea, has maintained that it is not looking for nuclear weapons – on Monday announced that it would enrich uranium to 20% , moving further away from the limits of the nuclear deal. abandoned entirely under Trump.

Iranian officials have assured that the country will immediately revert to the boundaries of the deal once the United States returns to compliance, as Biden has pledged to do.