BP oil tanker event renews Iranian threats to international oil trade

British Petroleum (BP) oil tanker
British Petroleum (BP) oil tanker

BP oil tanker, is hiding inside the Arabian Gulf for fear of a possible Iranian attack out of vengeance for withholding an Iranian tanker by the British and Gibraltar authorities since July 4th, according to Bloomberg.

The BP oil tanker, capable of carrying one million barrels of crude, was on its way to the port of Basra in southern Iraq before returning suddenly and is now anchored off the coast of Saudi Arabia.

Bloomberg quoted an unnamed source as saying BP is afraid its carriers will turn into potential targets for Tehran, this move highlights Iran's increasing threat to the oil trade movement in the Gulf and its impact on the global oil industry, especially after threats by Iranian military leaders and demanding a former leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander to "detain a British tanker".

BP oil tanker shelters off Saudi Arabia on fear of any hostile act of Iran

The BP oil tanker, which is registered on the isle of "Man" and flying under the British flag, was on its way to the shipment of oil from the Iraqi port of Basra to transport it to northwestern Europe, as ships tracking data shown, but it did not ship the load and canceled its special reservation.

The BP oil tanker will not be able to cross the Strait of Hormuz, without passing near the Iranian coasts, putting it at risk of being targeted.

"Increasing tensions between Britain and Iran could take several months," according to Bloomberg.

The Iranian escalation has cast a negative light on the work of shipping companies exporting crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Gulf, as the cost of insurance for tankers and cargoes passing through the Strait of Hormuz increased, causing the shipowners to move away and switch to refueling at other points.

The missions of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Norway at the United Nations earlier sent a letter to the UN Security Council and its members and to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the results of the investigation into the attacks on four ships off Fujairah last May.

The letter included official reporting of the interim results of the investigations led by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Norway in the mine attacks on the four vessels in the UAE territorial waters on May 12nd.

The letter states that the findings of the investigations and the interim evidence indicate that "a state, not a terrorist group, is responsible for the attack on the four ships," without specifying the name of the country, showing that the attacks deliberately threatened international maritime navigation and global energy supplies.

The US national security adviser John Bolton, confirmed, before the end of last month, that attacks on the four oil tankers off the coast of Fujairah in the UAE, in the middle of May, were carried out using Iranian naval mines. He also explained, on the sidelines of his visit to the UAE at that time, that Iran stands almost certainly behind the incident, and Washington is trying to be prudent in responding to what happened.

On May 12, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation announced that four civilian commercial cargo ships from several nationalities had been subjected to sabotage operations near the state's territorial waters, towards the east coast near Fujairah and the regional and economic waters of the UAE.

Again, Iran and its militias in the region were blamed for the terrorist attack in the Gulf of Oman, on June 13rd as happened in mid-May of the destruction of four commercial ships of several nationalities off the coast of Fujairah.

Informed Sources hinted to Ajel that Tehran is responsible for targeting two oil tankers Cucoca Carriages and Front Altair.

The sources stressed that all the evidence condemns Iran, which is trying to get out of its diplomatic, political, and economic troubles in all ways (legitimate and illegitimate) after the tragic consequences of the decision of the US administration to tighten sanctions on the Iranian regime, in light of security reports spoke earlier that Tehran began to target vital interests in the Gulf region.

In mid-May, the UAE announced that four commercial cargo ships had been sabotaged near the emirate of Fujairah, one of the world's largest ship refueling centers, just outside the Strait of Hormuz. The four ships were the giant oil tanker Amjad and Al-Marzouqah tanker, owned by Bahri, the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia, the UAE-based oil tanker A. MICHEL, and the Norwegian-registered oil products tanker MT Andrew.

After Iran threatened, before the attack on the four tankers, to prevent the passage of any exports from the Strait of Hormuz; former intelligence reports revealed that a commando unit of the Iranian Navy destroyed four commercial cargo ships of several nationalities off the coast of the Emirate of Fujairah, alluding to the reasons that led Tehran to take the step that threatens the movement of navigation and world trade.

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