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Report: Iranian Gunboats Forcibly Detain Rescued Tanker Crew

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Iranian gunboats reportedly tried to round up the crews of both tankers attacked Thursday in the Gulf of Oman, but were only able to take one crew into custody, according to a Fox News report and U.S. Central Command.

Sailors on the Front Altair were reportedly first rescued by the Hyundai Dubai, however, Iranian gunboats closed in and demanded the crew be turned over, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

The statement said that aircraft dispatched to the attack site observed “an IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) Hendijan class patrol boat and multiple IRGC fast attack craft/fast inshore attack craft (FAC/FIAC) in the vicinity of the M/T Altair.”

The statement said that the Iranian craft acted aggressively.

“(T)he Iranians requested that the motor vessel Hyundai Dubai, which had rescued the sailors from the M/T Altair, to turn the crew over to the Iranian FIACs. The motor vessel Hyundai Dubai complied with the request and transferred the crew of the M/T Altair to the Iranian FIACs,” the statement said.

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In the meantime, the statement said 21 sailors from the Kokuka Courageous were picked up by the Coastal Ace, a Dutch tugboat, and then transferred to the destroyer USS Bainbridge.

“While the Hendijan patrol boat appeared to attempt to get to the tug Coastal Ace before USS Bainbridge, the mariners were rescued by USS Bainbridge at the request of the master of the M/T Kokuka Courageous,” the statement said.

The 23 crew members from the Front Altair are now being held in Iran, Fox News reported.

Iran was quick to show an image of what it says is the sailors in good health.

Iran’s English-language Press TV showed film and images and said they were in “full health.”

“This video refutes false reports by some media outlets claiming that Iran avoided help the sailors working on the vessel,” Press TV said. It said that of the 23 people in the crew 11 were Russian, 11 Filipino and one Georgian.

It is unclear when the sailors will leave Iran.

USS Mason, a guided-missile destroyer, is now patrolling the area of the Gulf of Oman where the attacks took place.

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The U.S. has blamed Iran for the attacks and on Thursday, released video of what it said was an Iranian vessel removing an unexploded mine from the hull of the Kokuka Courageous.

“You saw the boat. It has Iran written all over it,” President Donald Trump said during an interview Friday on “Fox & Friends.”

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“They didn’t want the evidence left behind. They don’t know that we have things that we can detect in the dark that work very well. We have that. It was them that did it,” he said.

Iran has denied any role in the attacks.

“Fire has been contained on both tankers … We have sent experts to evaluate whether the crew rescued by Iran can return to (one) tanker,” Allahmorad Afifipour, head of ports in the Iranian province of Hormozgan, said, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile late Thursday, Yutaka Katada, president of Kokuka Sangyo shipping company which owns the Kokuka Courageous, said he doubted a mine caused the damage to his vessel.

“Our crew said that the ship was attacked by a flying object,” he said according to The New York Times.

He stated that the holes in the ship’s hull were above its waterline.

“There is zero possibility that they were torpedoes,” he said.

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Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack can be reached at jackwritings1@gmail.com.
Location
New York City
Languages Spoken
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Topics of Expertise
Politics, Foreign Policy, Military & Defense Issues




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