Iran’s Hypocrisy In Continuing Tensions – OpEd

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After more than four decades of countless negotiations under the appeasement policy, Iran’s policy had alternately two different characters. On one hand, Iran showed his iron fist with terrorist activities symbolized by IRGC. On the other hand showed his foreign policy as a vitrine for negotiation symbolized by Zarif, however, both faces serve the same goal, to survive the regime.

Very a recent example is the contradictory remarks; raised by Iran’s government agencies about Friday’s attack on an Iranian SABITI oil tanker being targeted by “two missiles” which made the incident and the original news even more suspicions than it was originally announced. Saudi Arabia said it was not involved in Friday’s attack on an Iranian oil tanker in the Red Sea that caused a spike of more than 2% in crude prices

Saudi Arabia said it received a distress message on the same day from a damaged Iranian tanker in the Red Sea but the vessel kept moving and switched off its transponder before it could assist, state news agency SPA reported on Saturday.

SPA said the SABITI tanker did not respond to any communications from the Saudi authorities.

A few hours after the attack, the regime’s National Iranian Oil Company denied missiles were fired from Saudi soil to targets this oil tanker in the Red Sea. IRNA, the Iranian regime’s official news agency, wrote the following: “This oil tanker suffered an incident this morning while located 60 miles from the Jeddah port of Saudi Arabia. Although some say this incident could have been a terrorist attack, yet there was no missile fired towards this oil tanker from Saudi soil.”

The Associated Press reported the images published by Iran’s Oil Ministry showed no visible damage on the ship. However, the images do not show the ship’s sides. Satellite images from the region do not show any visible smoke clouds.

Political risk consultancy Eurasia Group said it did not have firm evidence about who may have been behind the incident.

However, according to Fars news agency affiliated to IRGC, Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s top security Said:

“Piracy and mischief on international waterways aimed at making commercial shipping insecure will not go unanswered,”

In a statement, Iran’s government spokesman Ali Rabiei called Friday’s attack “cowardly” and said Tehran would give a “proportionate response” following investigations.

This incident is highly likely to be part of the wider narrative of Iran’s plan to escalate the tensions and disrupt free maritime transport in the Persian Gulf. Iran has in mind despicable dual game, in its show vitrine Iran says ready for talks with Saudi, with or without mediation. But in reality

Khamenei Calls On IRGC To Get Ready For Ground, Sea, Space Combat

Speaking about his assessment of the IRGC Academy’s performance, he said: “I am proud of the academy’s successes, but I am not satisfied with what it has achieved so far”, insisting that he expects more.

Elsewhere in his speech on Sunday, Khamenei reiterated that the IRGC should have access to modern “defensive, operational and intelligence equipment as well as knowledge of cyberspace” to be ready for combat “on the ground, in the air, in the space, in the sea, at the borders, and inside the country.”

However, according to an assessment provided to the Associated Press by private maritime security, firm Dryad Maritime. “It is likely that the region, having been stable for the last month, will face another period of increasing maritime threats, as the Iranian and Saudi geopolitical stand-off continues.”

Hassan Mahmoudi

Hassan Mahmoudi is a human rights advocate and Social Media journalist seeking democracy for Iran and peace for the region.

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