Three hours! As close as 10 feet! Sink one ship to stop these dangerous acts. No other country in the world is doing this. Oh wait, there’s Russia. And China. Enablers. “Iran, U.S. warships in first tense Mideast encounter in a year,” AP, April 27, 2021. “Footage released by the Navy showed a ship commanded by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard cut in front of the USCGC Monomoy, causing the Coast Guard vessel to come to an abrupt stop with its engine smoking on April 2. The Guard also did the same with another Coast Guard vessel, the USCGC Wrangell, said Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet. Such close passes risk the ships colliding at sea. … “The U.S. crews issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio, five short blasts from the ships’ horns, and while the [Iranian] Harth 55 responded to the bridge-to-bridge radio queries, they continued the unsafe maneuvers,” Rebarich said. “After approximately three hour of the U.S. issuing warning and conducting defensive maneuvers, the [Iranian] vessels maneuvered away from the U.S. ships and opened distance between them.” The Wall Street Journal first reported on the incident, which involved the Iranian Harth support ship and three Iranian fast-attack craft. The Coast Guard units operate out of Bahrain as part of Patrol Forces Southwest Asia, its biggest unit overseas. … The incidents at sea almost always involve the Revolutionary Guard, which reports only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Typically, they involve Iranian speedboats armed with deck-mounted machine guns and rocket launchers test-firing weapons or shadowing American aircraft carriers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20 percent of all oil passes.”
“German intelligence: Iran working to expand, upgrade its WMD arsenal,” Neta Bar, Israel Hayom, April 27, 2021.
Uh oh. This is a big deal if true. “Russian Fleet Protects Iranian Ships Smuggling Arms, Israelis Say,” Arie Egozi, Breaking Defense, April 27, 2021.
This is good news only if it is apples for apples. The problem for Iran is that hostages are not the same as prisoners. “Tehran says Iran and U.S. inspecting ways to swap prisoners,” Tehran Times, April 27, 2021.
“A remotely piloted boat packed with explosives targeted the Saudi port of Yanbu in the Red Sea on Tuesday, the kingdom said, with the blast sending black smoke into the sky off the coast. … Saudi Arabia claimed to have intercepted and destroyed the attack boat.” See “Explosive-laden ‘drone’ boat targets Saudi port of Yanbu,” AP, April 27, 2021.
Is Iran the only country in the world using cryptocurrency like this? Funny money. “Iran’s central bank says officially mined crypto can be used to pay for imports,” Coin Telegraph, April 27, 2021.
Yesterday Iran recorded its highest single-day death toll from the pandemic. And some officials have admitted actual virus numbers are higher than official. The Health Ministry said 496 died April 26. “Iran Hits Record COVID-19 Deaths As Officials Warn Of Worse To Come,” RFE/RL, April 27, 2021.
“Iran: Dreadful Human Rights Violations By Regime,” Cyrus Yaqubi, op-ed, Eurasia Review, April 27, 2021.
“US Navy fires warning shots in new tense encounter with Iran,” Jon Gambrell, Yahoo, April 27, 2021. This appears to be the second encounter, the one at night. “An American warship fired warning shots when vessels of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard came too close to a patrol in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy said Wednesday. The Navy released black-and-white footage of the encounter Monday night in international waters of the northern reaches of the Persian Gulf. In it, lights can be seen in the distance and what appears to be a single gunshot can be heard, with a tracer round racing across the top of the water. Iran did not immediately acknowledge the incident. The Navy said the USS Firebolt fired the warning shots after three fast-attack Guard vessels came within 68 yards (62 meters) of it and the U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat USCGC Baranoff. “The U.S. crews issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio and loud-hailer devices, but the (Guard) vessels continued their close range maneuvers,” said Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the Mideast-based 5th Fleet. “The crew of Firebolt then fired warning shots, and the (Guard) vessels moved away to a safe distance from the U.S. vessels.””
“How Iran Used An International Playboy To Launder Oil Money,” OCCRP, April 27, 2021.