Tag Archives: gulf crisis

Gibraltar said on Tuesday it was seeking to de-escalate issues arising with Iran since the detention of the Grace 1 tanker. British Royal Marines seized the Iranian oil tanker on July 4 off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory of Gibraltar on suspicion of violating EU sanctions by taking …

P&O Cruises has canceled cruises around Dubai and the Arabian Gulf after Iran seized a British-flagged tanker in the region. Citing increased tensions, the company said it has canceled its planned program in the region from October until at least March next year and all guests be issued a full …

Peace with Iran is the mother of all peace and war with Iran is the mother of all wars, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday in a speech broadcast live on state TV. If the United States wants to have negotiations with Iran then it must lift all sanctions, …

The U.S. ambassador to Germany launched a scathing attack on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government on Thursday for its reluctance to join a naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz, saying Europe’s biggest economy must assume more global responsibility. Relations between the United States and Germany have soured since U.S. President …

Iran is prepared for dialogue if Saudi Arabia is also ready, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday, according to the IRIB news agency. Tensions have spiked between Iran and Saudi Arabia, arch-rivals for predominance in the Middle East, since Riyadh accused the Islamic Republic of carrying out …

Germany will not participate in a U.S.-led naval mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz, close to Iran, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Wednesday. Stressing that Germany wants to avoid a further escalation of tensions in the region, Maas told reporters on a trip to Warsaw that there was …

By Seyed Hossein Mousavian The underlying assumptions on the part of Trump administration to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) were the following: 1) by implementing the “maximum pressure” policy, Iran’s oil exports would reach zero; its financial transactions would be fundamentally hindered and Iran’s economy would collapse; …

Iran was to revive maritime security talks on Tuesday with traditional foe the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in an apparent bid to calm tensions in the Gulf, although a Gulf official described the discussions as routine and technical. The talks follow weeks of heightened political friction around the strategic waterway …

Parties to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal met in Vienna on Sunday for emergency talks called in response to an escalation in tensions between Iran and the West that included confrontations at sea and Tehran’s breaches of the accord. Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and Iran have been trying to salvage …

Iran has captured 17 spies working for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and some have been sentenced to death, Iranian media reported on Monday. State television quoted the Intelligence Ministry as saying it had broken up a CIA spying ring and captured 17 suspects. A ministry official said some …

Britain said Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged vessel and a Liberian-flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz was unacceptable and called for freedom of navigation in the Gulf. “I’m extremely concerned by the seizure of two vessels by Iranian authorities in the Strait of Hormuz,” Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said. …

By Hossein Mousavian*   In May 2018, the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was designed to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and had been agreed on after 12 years of exhaustive negotiations. The US began to impose new economic and …