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Iranian military fire on Norwegian ship

A Norwegian ship that allegedly came under fire from Iranian forces in the Gulf on Thursday was wanted for causing $300 million in damage to an oil rig, an Iranian official has claimed.

Published: 16 May 2015 18:09 CEST
Iranian military fire on Norwegian ship
Alpine Eternity off the cape of South Africa. Photo: Flickr/Bob Adams

According to US officials, the Alpine Eternity, owned by Norway's Transpetrol and registered in Singapore, was the target of warning shots from Iranian Revolutionary Guard sailors on Thursday.

After hearing a radio call for help, the United Arab Emirates dispatched coastguard vessels to aid the tanker and the Iranian boats then left the area.

In the first Iranian remarks since the incident, an oil official said that the ship was wanted for hitting a rig at around 3am on March 22.

“We want neighbouring countries to take the necessary cooperation on confiscation and handing over of this particular vessel,” Habib Jadidi, a director of Iran's giant South Pars gas field operations, told Shana, a news outlet belonging to Iran's oil ministry.

The ship fled the scene on Thursday and is in Dubai, according to the Iranian report, which did not make any mention of warning shots being fired.

Jadidi blamed the ship's captain for allowing the vessel to drift 25-30 miles (40 to 48 kilometres) off course in March, and though the Norwegian company had since been informed of the damage it had not taken steps to pay compensation, he said.

“His dereliction and negligence has caused this accident,” Jadidi said of the captain. “The collision has created a very dangerous situation for the wells. If it is not quickly tackled, wellhead installations will be damaged and if no gas flows from the wells it could lead to unpleasant hazards and pollution.”

The incident reflects rising tensions in the Gulf, exacerbated by the conflict in Yemen in which Iran-backed Shiite rebels are engaged in a conflict against a Saudi-led coalition of Sunni Arab states and pro-Yemeni government forces.

Thursday's incident appeared similar to one in the Gulf last month in which Iran took a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship, the Maersk Tigris, into custody.

The Iranians seized the vessel after firing warning shots and cited a commercial dispute with the Danish shipping group Maersk which hired out the ship. The Maersk Tigris was eventually released after Iranian authorities said the matter was settled.

TRIAL

Danish terror trial begins against Iranian separatists

Three leaders of an Iranian Arab separatist group pleaded not guilty to financing and promoting terrorism in Iran with Saudi Arabia's backing, as their trial opened in Denmark on Thursday.

Published: 30 April 2021 08:09 CEST
Danish terror trial begins against Iranian separatists
File photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

The three risk 12 years in prison if found guilty.

Aged 39 to 50, the trio are members of the separatist organisation ASMLA (Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz), which is based in Denmark and the Netherlands and which Iran considers a terrorist group.

The three, one of whom is a Danish citizen, have been held in custody in Denmark since February 2020.

Gert Dyrn, lawyer for the eldest of the three, told AFP that in his client’s opinion “what they are charged with is legitimate resistance towards an oppressive regime.”

“They are not denying receiving money from multiple sources, including Saudi Arabia, to help the movement and help them accomplish their political aim,” Dyrn said. 

His client has lived as a refugee in Denmark since 2006. 

According to the charge sheet seen by AFP, the three received around 30 million kroner (four million euros, $4.9 million) for ASMLA and its armed branch, through bank accounts in Austria and the United Arab Emirates.

The trio is also accused of spying on people and organisations in Denmark between 2012 and 2020 for Saudi intelligence.

Finally, they are also accused of promoting terrorism and “encouraging the activities of the terrorist movement Jaish Al-Adl, which has activities in Iran, by supporting them with advice, promotion, and coordinating attacks.”

The case dates back to 2018 when one of the three was the target of a foiled attack on Danish soil believed to be sponsored by the Iranian regime in retaliation for the killing of 24 people in Ahvaz, southwestern Iran, in September 2018.

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Tehran formally denied the attack plan in Denmark, but a Danish court last year jailed a Norwegian-Iranian for seven years for his role in the plot. 

That attack put Danish authorities on the trail of the trio’s ASMLA activities.

Sunni Saudi Arabia is the main rival in the Middle East of Shia Iran, and Tehran regularly accuses it, along with Israel and the United States, of supporting separatist groups.

Lawyer Gert Dyrn said this was “the first case in Denmark within terror law where you have to consider who is a terrorist and who is a freedom fighter.”

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