Trump to Reinstate Sanctions on Suspicious Iranian Ship

  • 8/16/2018
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Suspicious acts of an Iranian ship at an Island near Bab-el-Mandeb raised questions on its obviously non-commercial activity. After inspection, US officials and militants figured out that this ship falls under the lifted sanctions within the nuclear deal led by US former president Barack Obama. The ship was likely transporting weaponry or was being used for military purposes. Experts estimated that it will be returned to the list of US sanctions against Tehran in the second batch scheduled for next November. The ship, identified as the Saviz, was delisted from US sanctions by the Obama administration as part of its efforts to uphold the landmark nuclear deal with Iran, US officials confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon. Upcoming Trump administration action against the Saviz and other Iranian vessels is part of a broader package of sanctions expected to kick back in on Nov. 5, officials confirmed. Sanctions will target Irans port operations, shipping, and shipbuilding sectors, and other affiliates. Saviz has been anchored for more than a year in the Red Sea near the Strait of Bab Al-Mandeb in international waters, according to satellite photos. According to Iranian news outlets, many of the weapons handed over by the Iranian regime to the Houthi militias were carried by speedboats from the same vessel. Saviz itself is equipped with a radar rarely seen on cargo ships, but used to steer the Houthi militias’ boats when attacking Saudi oil tankers. "The Iranians arent even trying to disguise the military use of the ship," said one US official with knowledge of the matter. "You dont need classified intelligence or satellite photos of the decks to know that merchant ships simply dont act this way." "If youre moving goods, you dont anchor in the same place for weeks at a time, let alone outside a war zone, let alone a war zone where militias are firing missiles at other ships," the source said. "The Obama administration enabled the Saviz to sail globally. President Trump will put a stop to that." US officials familiar with the ships movements told Washington Free Beacon, “It is certain that the Iranian ship provides logistical support for the Houthis in Yemen.” A high-ranking official at the US Department of State told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US backs efforts of UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths to end the crisis and urge all parties to cooperate with him to reach a comprehensive political agreement. The source added that Washington strongly denounces any act that jeopardizes navigation. According to J.E. Dyer, a retired Naval intelligence officer, "The maritime problem in a chokepoint is short-legged but very multifaceted. Its time to get the sanctions game face back on, and pay Saviz or her sister ships a visit with a US cruiser or destroyer." "Saviz appears to have remained there for extended periods in the months since," Dyer noted in her analysis. "This is not the typical profile of a large, modern, ocean-going cargo ship, which would be expensively ill-employed lingering among islands in the southern Red Sea."

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