DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian state television claimed this week that a foreign ship got stuck in the Strait of Hormuz after ignoring instructions to use a route laid out by the Islamic Republic's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
But the ship is tied to Iran — and seems to have been in the strait for months.
The vessel, based on its shape, reported location and other details, is the container ship Arista, reportedly flying a false flag linking it to the island nation of Comoros. That ship was known last year as the Panama-flagged Gauja, which the U.S. Treasury included in sanctions targeting what it described as a network that had been "generating tens of billions of dollars in profit" for Iran's ruling elite.
Here's a closer look.
Iranian state television aired on-screen alerts Wednesday about what it described as a foreign ship that got stuck ignoring the commands of the Guard's navy.
But the ship is tied to Iran — and seems to have been in the strait for months.
The vessel, based on its shape, reported location and other details, is the container ship Arista, reportedly flying a false flag linking it to the island nation of Comoros. That ship was known last year as the Panama-flagged Gauja, which the U.S. Treasury included in sanctions targeting what it described as a network that had been "generating tens of billions of dollars in profit" for Iran's ruling elite.
Here's a closer look.
Iranian state television aired on-screen alerts Wednesday about what it described as a foreign ship that got stuck ignoring the commands of the Guard's navy.
3 months ago
