Iran seizes Indian vessel carrying Iraqi crude

With Iran continuing to detain an Indian vessel carrying crude from Iraq over environmental concerns, India today asserted that there had been no violation of any pollution norms by the vessel. 

MT Desh Shanti, though, underwent a second round of inspection by Iranian authorities. The vessel was detained by Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Tuesday in the Persian Gulf and taken to Bandar Abbas Port.

A senior shipping ministry told PTI that maritime authorities and International surveyors had inspected the ship, which was only nine years old, built in 2004. He added, it was alleged that it caused pollution on 30 July but the fact remained that the tanker was not carrying crude on that date.

The Iranian authorities detained the tanker belonging to the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) while it was carrying crude from Bashra in Iraq.

Meanwhile negotiations between the Indian government through its mission in Tehran, are on for the tanker's release.

According to an SCI official, contact had been made with the master of the ship, who confirmed that the ship was in Bandar Abbas. He however, could not offer further details.

The development comes at a time when India was taking steps to cut its crude imports from Iran.

Meanwhile, Iraq has overtaken Iran as the second largest-crude supplier to India, after Saudi Arabia.

After being detained in international waters in the Persian Gulf, late Wednesday evening, the ship was on its way to the Bandar Abbas port, guided by the IRGC.

India was forced to cut crude imports from Iran, along with China and South Korea to win a waiver from the US to continue to imports.

According to estimates, in 2012, India imported crude from Iraq worth over $15 billion, with IOC the largest importer of crude oil from Iraq.

The action by Iran has deeply shocked India, according to commentators, and if the perception in India was that Tehran had taken offense to Indian rising imports from Iraq it would not be far-fetched.

The consequences of the action would not be limited to India-Iran ties they say but there would be questions internationally about what Tehran intended to do in the Persian Gulf where it had even threatened use of force in the past to show its influence in the oil trade.

Iranian authorities had recently threatened to block the crucial Strait of Hormuz oil trade route in the face of sanctions imposed by western countries.