Iran seizes British pirate ship: Justice 2 centuries in the making (2)

By Ramin Mazaheri

(Ramin Mazaheri is the chief correspondent in Paris for Press TV and has lived in France since 2009. He has been a daily newspaper reporter in the US, and has reported from Iran, Cuba, Egypt, Tunisia, South Korea, and elsewhere. He is the author of “I’ll Ruin Everything You Are: Ending Western Propaganda on Red China.”)

Iran didn’t want this fight, but Tehran’s actions show that it is more game for it than any of the Western nations. It is the sanctions which have pushed Iran into fighting, but the eye-opener for many in the West is what a fighter Iran has turned itself into.

As always in modern Iranian history, the English threw the first punch: the illegal detention of Iranian ship Grace 1.

Just as one person’s “terrorist” is another person’s “freedom fighter,” one person’s “navy” is another person’s “pirate.” However, the facts are clear:

It does not take a PhD in geography to grasp that Iran shipping oil to Syria would not involve any European Union country. Thus, the preposterous claim by the UK (which should already be out of the EU) that the tanker violated the EU embargo on Syria is completely irrelevant. Such time-wasting, nonsensical justifications receive serious airtime only in the West, where their media are pathetically servile. The Westerns certainly believe each other within their bloc, but the rest of the international community knows this was illegal piracy.

And even the EU knows it, too! The Grace 1 was taken hostage allegedly to uphold the EU’s own blockade, and yet Brussels has not even made a single statement regarding its seizure. This is a case of silence speaking volumes — the EU knows it can’t say anything without incriminating their allies or themselves.

Iran was aggressed, and nobody can say that the UK does not have a very long history of breaking international laws in order to inflict suffering on Iran.

However, Tehran now understands (as I explained in Part 1) its military technological parity with the West in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as its military superiority there. Such realities are the result of Iran’s far more humble and legal aims (self-defense) than those of the West (invasion and the imposition of a neo-imperialist puppet). This explains why Iran responded aggressively, legally, and equally with the seizure of the British-flagged Stena Impero, which is accused of illegally avoiding tracking and of being involved in an accident with a fishing boat.

Say it loud: ‘If you obey, you will be safe.’

The rule of reciprocal action is well-known in international law, but this is not respected by the unilateral US, UK and EU neo-imperialists. No matter: you have guys who can rappel from a helicopter to a ship in masks? Guess what, so does Iran. You can detain a foreign ship for weeks? So can Iran.

There was a head-to-head contest, as Iran claimed, and Iran undoubtedly defeated the UK.

Thrilling new radio records show that Iranian sailors openly defied Her Majesty’s Ship (and what a pathetic, servile, elitist anachronism that is!) the warship the HMS Montrose, which was patrolling the area. They tried to stop the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps from inspecting the Stena Impero, but a delighted Iran heard an Iranian telling a Brit, “If you obey, you will be safe,” a phrase which will grace countless Farsi memes.

The radio footage is obviously incredibly damaging to British pride. It was released by maritime security risk firm Dryad Global, which represents those who have the most to lose in any useless prolonging of Western belligerence: shipping insurance companies. Dryad Global is based in England but they have no qualms about embarrassing their own sailors and allowing the “savage taunt” of the impotence of their own navy — they are hardcore capitalists.

(Iran, however, is not. We should note here that the price of oil is not a primary concern to Iran — oil profits are not going anywhere — as Iran is now trying to resolve long-term issues of much greater importance. Thus, Western oil traders, maritime shippers, and insurance companies — who only care about short-term profit — represent an additional, important, and ultimately self-sabotaging pressure in Western media and governments.)

We must stress here that Iran has been proven to be acting in accordance with international maritime law in every single instance so far, just like with the JCPOA:

The seizure of the Grace I is clearly illegal, as the beneficiaries are engaging in a cover-up. Panama has just vindicated Iran’s recent impounding of the MT Riah, a ship accused of fuel smuggling, as they have begun withdrawing the registration of the ship because it “deliberately violated international regulations.” Thus, there is so far no reason to believe evidence for the Stena Impero’s lawbreaking will not be forthcoming.

We should readily grasp why Iran would never be dumb enough to grab just any passing British ship — they would never get away with such an illegal, unilateral, Western-type of action.

The Iranian government is very, very well aware of the bias against them, and of the double standards in favor of the West. As there must be plenty of examples of criminality and lawbreaking on the seas, why would Iran stake part of their credibility on misrepresenting an innocent ship? It could be a case of tit-for-tat — Stena Impero for Grace I — but I would be rather surprised if Iran does not produce evidence for the Stena Impero case similar to what they produced in the other cases.

It must be reminded that all this above-board behavior is to simply persuade the West that Muslim democracy is only a threat to immoral and rapacious Western capitalism, and that Iran’s popular revolution simply cannot continue to be repressed.

The British reaction: as usual, who knows what a Western politician will do?

At some point, such a conflict was inevitable:

The West has lost and is about to pull out of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Iran is not only the last man standing, but has exponentially thrived since the West’s secular attack dog Saddam Hussein failed. Iran has huge personal and cultural ties with all these embittered areas, all of which have also seen Muslim democracy murderously repressed by both comprador traitors and Western-aping domestic aristocrats. Thus the assertion of Iranian police as the region’s new watchdog (watchshark?) appears like a natural progression. Tehran must remember that “security” must be mutually-beneficial and not domineering, of course — countries victimized by imperialism usually remain hyper-aware of this.

More historical inevitability, and a reminder that human history does not run at 5G rates: the Brits lost the Suez in 1956, and now they have lost the ability to control the Persian Gulf. Thus, the Stena Impero absolutely was a “major failure” by the UK, as top lawmakers from their ruling Conservative Party even admitted: the “failure” was to uphold British neo-imperialism and their ability to intimidate.

As is often the case, whereas Western conservatives can occasionally admit some honest self-criticism, the West’s rampant fake-leftists cannot: The Guardian’s claim that the US and John Bolton “set up” Britain was a pathetic excuse which, as usual, pretends as if unilateral aggression and piracy weren’t the standard policy of London for decades and even centuries.

Logic, fairness, and even Boris Johnson’s own father — in this rather remarkable interview with Press TV — that an even-up exchange of the Grace I for the Stena Impero will be “easy-peasy.” Baba Johnson may apparently believe Boris is a sincere Iranophile, but such a trade is too embarrassing to neo-imperial pride, I predict, at least so very early in Boris’ tenure as prime minister.

Because of his father’s eminently respectful words and tone on Press TV his son lashed out at Press TV just hours later. What a great influence Press TV has — to provoke such an immediate response from the top level of the UK! I am not surprised: scoring domestic points (in this case against opposition chief Jeremy Corbyn) by insulting journalists is nothing new, and such remarks will have zero impact on the Grace 1-Stena Impero situation.

How will the new Boris Johnson-led UK handle the maritime crisis with Iran?

Frankly, we all have no idea: because European politicians are so bumbling (Theresa May, whom no one will miss, except Brexit-delayers), unpopular (the inexperienced, egotistical, and repressive Emmanuel Macron), and lacking in domestic legitimacy (everyone in Brussels), their policies are bereft of sensible planning and suffer from major schizophrenia.

Case in point: the UK is readier than ever to leave the EU… yet they said they will create a joint European maritime mission for the Persian Gulf rather than join the US Navy’s Operation Sentinel?

Certainly unexpected… but good: Washington is failing to fabricate a phony “naval coalition of the willing,” even though US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had embarrassed the UK by pointing out that their navy was incapable of protecting British ships without US help.

More cases in point: Europe sets up Instex… yet doesn’t include oil sales, rendering it useless.  The UK talks about the importance of JCPOA, but then grabs the Grace 1. Even more talks are planned among the JCPOA powers in Vienna, but they never make enough progress to prevent the deal’s eminent collapse.

Of course, it is the West’s reactionary and neo-imperialist principles which create the inability to produce real politicians who do not have “mental disability,” which then leads to these contradictory decisions and so many unpredictable Boris Johnsons.

Iran has been playing a very bold, and very steady, game this decade: trying to persuade the EU to finally break with immoral US foreign policy. This was the reason the Rouhani administration concluded billions of dollars worth of mutually-beneficial (which make them not “neoliberal”) business deals with Paris, Rome, and other European nations. Tehran’s strategy was logical: the EU could easily defy US sanctions, as China does, if only they had a similar will, unity, and any sense of self-preservation.

However, Tehran’s good and moral sense has been pearls before swine — Tehran has been forced to respond to aggression with aggression.

I find it hard to believe that any European naval operation won’t ultimately work in tandem, and thus under, Washington’s armada. The new maritime coalition seems like yet more delaying tactics from Europe, though the EU’s inability to decide may be a legitimate result of their undemocratic, US-penned political structure.

Ultimately, “passive-imperialist” Europe fears an explosion in the status quo. However, Iran won’t tolerate the status quo any longer and is openly challenging it. Furthermore, the US can’t force Iran to change or stop it from policing the Persian Gulf.

All the advantages right now are tilting towards Iran — thus the month of bold actions.

The West has brought this crisis and embarrassment upon themselves because they unjustly try to dominate the Muslim world and its oil resources. Their shame won’t end until Muslim democracy is no longer repressed by the West, and thus we shouldn’t expect the crisis to be resolved soon: after all, the EU breaking with US foreign policy would be rather a revolution.

But for Iranians: it’s been a very good month. Enjoy it!

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV.)

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