On January 4, a South Korean merchant ship, Hankuk Chemi, was seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards while sailing in the Strait of Hormuz near the Omani side of the sea, with 20 crew members (including 5 South Koreans) and 7,200 tons of petrochemicals on board.
According to the Yonhap news agency, the destroyer “Choi Young” of the South Korean Qinghai Force (South Korean forces stationed in the Gulf of Aden, Somalia) rushed to the Strait of Hormuz and arrived at the incident early on the morning of the 1st, carrying a special operations unit of the South Korean Navy Special Operations Brigade (UDT), which successfully rescued the 21 crew members of the “Samho Jewelry” hijacked by Somali pirates in January 2011 and the container ship “Hanjin Tianjin” attacked near the Gulf of Aden in April of the same year.
In addition to the destroyer Choi Young, the Bahrain-based Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the South Korean Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries are working closely together, and the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is trying to confirm the personal safety of the detained crew, and the South Korean side was shocked that the Korea Chemical was detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Previously, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards detained a number of foreign ships in the Strait of Hormuz, coupled with the mine explosion incident, which led to the dispatch of their own escort fleet to the relevant waters, but with the Iranian side stopped such detention operations, escort operations are no longer in the headlines, but this incident, proving that foreign merchant ships operating in the Strait of Hormuz, still face the threat of Iranian side, “violation of environmental regulations,” as in the past, is considered an excuse, the Iranian side is using this to pressure U.S. allies, dare not detain U.S. ships, but dare to detain U.S. allies’ ships.
At present, it is not clear how the U.S. side will react, but the recent tense situation in the Middle East, the first anniversary of Suleimani’s murder, Iran to revenge for the previously killed chief nuclear scientist Fahrizadeh, coupled with a series of official Iranian moves, including Iran’s claim that Israel will impersonate Iran to attack U.S. troops and diplomatic personnel in Iraq, the Revolutionary Guard senior officials on board the disputed island threatened the UAE, the United States, Israel and the Gulf States have increased military alert against Iran.
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