Iran Forces Seize US Cargo Ship With 34 People On Board, Al Arabiya Reports

Zerohedge ^ | 4-28-2015 | Durden

[tcrlaf]

Moments ago according to the native Twitter feed of Arabiya, Iranian forces have seized a US cargo ship, which has some 34 American sailors, which they have taken to the port of Bandar Abbas.

More as we get it.

[don-o]

Don-o found the US official statement.

Not exactly - I found CNBC quoting an unnamed "senior USN official" stating it was not a USN vessel. Which turne out to be true.

[tcrlaf]

[tcrlaf]

CNN finally reporting this...

[DesertRhino]

I didn’t even know we had cargo ships anymore. I thought they were all flagged in Liberia and such.

[b4its2late]

LOL

[justa-hairyape]

Looks like Emperor Zero ordered his Iranian forces to close the Strait of Hormuz just as the Roman Senate was getting ready to thwart his plans. Fiction or reality ? Who knows in today’s fairyland and skittles pooping unicorn world.

[lancium]

We still don't know the nationalaties of this ship's crew. Iran may have found people they weren't expecting on board./p>

[cpdiii]

If Ronald Regan were president today, the Iranian Navy would be sitting on the bottom of the ocean, the Iranian Air Force would be mangled burning aluminum and B52s with nuclear eggs would be circling just out of Iranian Air Space waiting for launch orders, with nuclear armed Tomahawk missiles, 250 kilotons a pop.

One phone call, "give my ship back now, your choice I await your decision within 60 minutes, I want pilots home for supper time, they are good boys."

[servantboy777]

>>Now we’ve got them right where we want them......yes, that was sarcastic.<<

Actually pretty hilarious comment....well done!

[Darksheare]

Okay, one degree of sep.
*chuckle*
But I was cynical enough to hold off on believing it until it was confirmed.
Sad state of affairs that such cynicism is wholly warranted.

[Mark17]

Maybe Obama can give them a nice lecture.

More than likely, he will congratulate them on a splendidly successful Naval operation. The chump.

[Zeppo]

Whether or not this incident is “true”, taking hostages and holding them for ransom is something that Muslims routinely do - their prophet certainly “approves” of it.

It’s just one of those things that Muslims do - after all, Muslims will be Muslims.

Things like beheading “infidels” or stoning them to death.

And taking slaves and “wives” as spoils of war.

And signing international agreements while all along planning to violate them.

And telling lies to “infidels” as a strategy.

It’s just what they do. Why would anybody be surprised?

[b4its2late]

Drudge Siren @Drudge_Siren · 21s 22 seconds ago

Accused of ‘trespassing’ in territorial waters

[nevergore]

Most reputable news stations won’t report until they can verify from two reputable sources....

They are now reporting it.....

[jjotto]

CNBC seems to have the quickest coverage of this.

Maersk is a Danish shipper that does have US-flagged cargo ships, but this container ship (Maersk Tigris) is Marshall Islands flagged and is said to have no US citizens aboard. Its previous stops were in Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

[Robe]

According to Ship Tracker the "Maersk Tigris" was transiting the straight this morning

[lancium]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_of_Free_Association A Compact of Free Association (COFA) is a type of diplomatic relationship that an independent country has with the United States of America, as an associated country. Presently, there are three sovereign states that have this type of relationship with the United States. They are the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and the Republic of Palau. The COFA allows the United States to operate armed forces in Compact areas, to demand land for operating bases (subject to negotiation), and excludes the militaries of other nations without U.S. permission. The U.S. in turn becomes responsible for protecting its affiliate nations and responsible for administering all international defense treaties and affairs, though it may not declare war on their behalf.

[thackney]

Last stop was Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Eqypt before that.

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:1635726/mmsi:538005749/imo:9694581/vessel:MAERSK_TIGRIS

[NonValueAdded]

I know it would violate OpSec but I wonder what are the ROE for operation Impotent Fury?

Saaaaay ... that would make a great title for a series of books about the hamstringing of our military. It wouldn't even have to be fiction but rather be culled from the annals of US Military history. It might even make a great series of threads.

Anyone willing to give it a go?

[TADSLOS]

34 GITMO inmates are smiling and packing their bags right now.