The John Batchelor Show

VIDEO: Maritime Intrigue

May 14, 2015

Monday  11 May 2015  / Hour 1, Block C:Claudia Rosett, FDD & Forbes.com, in re: Iran Shipping Sanctions Run Aground?  Officially, the Obama administration remains committed to enforcing sanctions on Iran’s main merchant shipping fleet, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, also known as IRISL. But in practice, since the Iran nuclear talks began early last year, many of IRISL’s cargo ships appear to be operating . . .  [more]
The Azergoun, a new container ship, built for the Iranian shipping line; when US sanctions were imposed, the ship went on a  peregrination under other flags, ownerships, paint colors.  There’s one seven-digit number, the hull number issued under the Intl Maritime Authority, that stays constant. Now it's harder to ascertain sanctions. Azergoun has just left Venezuela, is sailing hell-for-leather under the Iranian flag for Bandar Abbas.  Treasury refused to comment; State: We are not aware of any sanctions that have been triggered by this particular port call.” This Administration has a long list of special cases, exemptions, that it refuses to release to the public, there are 117 on the US blacklist; of these, 112 have been reflagged back to Iran.  United against Nuclear Iran: accused this ship of specifically illegal ship-to-ship transfers.  Was in Taiwan earlier this year. Iran doing potentially quite dangerous deeds knowing that the US will ignore them. We now have a de facto lift of sanctions. Note another Iranian ship on US blacklist sailing from Bulgaria through Suez.  Hunh?  These are easily among the ships running  guns to the Houthis with impunity.  Iranian ships currently are continuously sailing up and down the Red Sea.  Iran ahs already made its decision, are undermining its own sanctions by failing to enforce them – but the Administration needs to be held to account.