Obama & Kerry BFF Iran seizes 'Hostages' U.S. ship, 34 sailors. Updates

Obama & Kerry BFF Iran seizes 'Hostages' U.S. ship, 34 sailors. (AA).


Iran has fired at a U.S. cargo ship and has directed it to Bandar Abbas port on the southern coast of Iran, Al Arabiya News Channel has reported on Tuesday.

Up to 34 American sailors are believed to be on board the ship, Al Arabiya reported. Hmmm.....Nice vessel and crew you got there, would be a shame if those sanctions don't get cancelled?

(developing story)

Updates:

Source

Update 3.

Container ship Maersk Tigris captured by Iran in Strait of Hormuz April 28, 2015 at 16:10 by Mikhail Voytenko in Maritime Security 7

Container ship MAERSK TIGRIS was hijacked by the Naval force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) at around 0900 UTC Apr 28 in Strait of Hormuz. A U.S. government official said the ship was intercepted by the Naval force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) at 0505 ET.

Iranian forces boarded a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf on Tuesday after patrol boats fired warning shots across its bow and ordered it deeper into Iranian waters, the Pentagon said. Vessel was taken to Iranian port Bandar Abbas. U.S. planes and a destroyer were monitoring the situation.

Vessel was en route from Jeddah Saudi Arabia to Jebel Ali, UAE.

21 crew by late March consisted of 16 Burma nationalities, 6 Romanians, 1 Russian and 1 Ukrainian.

Iran fires at, boards Marshall Islands cargo ship; U.S. sending defense

Iranian troops boarded a cargo vessel early Tuesday morning after firing shots at the ship, prompting the U.S. to send assets to the ship’s defense.

The Pentagon said at least five Iranian patrol vessels approached the Marshall Islands-flagged Maersk Tigris cargo ship at 5:00 am eastern time as it was transiting the Straight of Hormuz and directed the ship to proceed further into Iranian waters.

When the ship’s master declined, the Iranian ship fired shots across the bow of the cargo vessel, Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said. After shots were fired, the ship proceeded into Iranian waters near the vicinity of Larak Island. It was boarded by members of the Iranian military and is now unable to leave Iranian waters.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/28/iran-fires-boards-marshall-islands-cargo-ship/#ixzz3YcUAuZiX 

Update 2:

A Pentagon spokesman told Reuters Iranian forces had boarded a Marshall Island-flagged vessel, the MV Maersk Tigris, in the Gulf. He said the boarding occurred after Iranian patrol boats fired shots across the vessel's bow and ordered it deeper into Iranian waters.

The ship had no U.S. citizens aboard, the spokesman said, contradicting earlier reports which said there were 34 U.S. sailors on board. He said it was travelling through the Strait of Hormuz when the incident occurred.

There was no immediate word from Iranian officials.

Iran has in the past sometimes threatened to block the strait to advance its opposition to sanctions imposed over its nuclear program.

The channel is a narrow strip of water separating Oman and Iran. It connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

#BREAKING: Pentagon confirms #Iran seized #US cargo ship http://t.co/0S2aWYcLEV
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) April 28, 2015

@MFS001 @EjmAlrai it's a marshall island registered ship, with no us citizen on board
— маяковский (@moscow_ghost) April 28, 2015

@AlArabiya_Eng it's a Marshall Islands-flagged ship, according to the Pentagon.
— annemarie wyley (@annemariewyley) April 28, 2015

@moscow_ghost As they obtain more at the negotiating table they get more aggressive. #Appeasement does not work https://t.co/BzFVM8dqTa
— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) April 28, 2015