“Guardians” of oil: how US allies increase military presence off the coast of Iran

The South Korean Ministry of Defense announced Tuesday, January 21, that Seoul would send troops to the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Iran. According to the South Korean news agency Ronhap, we are talking about expanding the scope of activities of the naval anti-piracy unit, which has been operating since 2009 off the coast of Somalia.

"Given the current situation in the Middle East, the government has decided to temporarily expand the scope of activity of the Cheonhe unit to ensure the safety of our citizens and the freedom of movement of our ships," the Ronghap quoted the statement of the South Korean Ministry of Defense.

The South Korean military department explained that the mission to protect civilian vessels in this strategically important area will be assigned to the destroyer Van Geon with a displacement of 4,400 tons.

The relatively narrow Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian and Oman gulfs. It is along this route that tankers going from oil production areas in the Gulf countries to other regions of the world, including East Asia, follow.

Tension zone

South Korea is not the first country to announce its intention to send its ships to the Persian Gulf. On July 19, 2019, the Central Command of the US Armed Forces announced the development of the multinational maritime operation “Operation Sentinel” to “ensure freedom of navigation” in the Persian Gulf.

• US Navy ship in the Persian Gulf
• Reuters
• © US Navy / Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Timothy A. Hazel / Files

This happened against the backdrop of increasing tension in relations between the United States and Iran in the spring and summer of 2019. Then the United States sent an aircraft carrier group to the coast of the Islamic Republic and strengthened its military presence in neighboring countries, claiming that there were threats from Iran.

A number of incidents contributed to the increase in tension. In May, unknown attacked tankers near the territorial waters of the UAE. The following month, new attacks on tankers occurred. In both cases, Washington was quick to blame Iran for the sabotage, but the authorities rejected them.

In June, the Iranians shot down the American drone RQ-4 Global Hawk, because of which, as later acknowledged by US President Donald Trump, he was ready to strike at Iran. In July, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) detained the British oil tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz after the British Gibraltar authorities detained the Grace 1 vessel, allegedly transporting Iranian oil to Syria.

In September, Hussite Yemeni rebels attacked large oil facilities in Saudi Arabia with drones. Washington, again, blamed Tehran for the attack. A month later, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced an attack on an Iranian tanker in the Red Sea.

According to experts, now in the region, especially after the assassination of Iranian General Kassem Suleimani during the American airstrike and Iran’s retaliatory attack on US bases, an “explosive situation” has developed.

“At any moment, due to accidents, due to an error, due to some ill-considered spontaneous actions, a war may break out that will disrupt energy supplies from this region both to the countries of the West and to the countries of Southeast Asia, including South Korea and Japan, ”Irina Fedorova, a senior researcher at the Center for Near and Middle East Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with RT. - Therefore, the attention of all the major international players who receive energy is riveted to this region. To ensure energy supply routes, these countries send their armed forces there. ”

Lack of unity

Great Britain, Australia, Albania, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates agreed to take part in the American operation in the Persian Gulf region. However, Seoul, instead of joining the efforts of the Americans, chose to conduct an independent military operation.

Tokyo went the same way earlier. In late December, the Japanese government announced its intention to send a helicopter carrier and two P-3C patrol aircraft to the region to ensure the safety of Japanese ships.

Apart from the US, European countries also operate. So, on January 20, the French Foreign Ministry issued a joint statement of France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy and Portugal. In it, these states announced the decision "to politically support the creation of a European-led observation mission in the Strait of Hormuz (EMASOH)."

“We welcome any assistance to these efforts in the same vein as Denmark, France, Greece and the Netherlands have already announced, and we expect an increase in support in the coming days,” the message on the website of the French Foreign Ministry emphasized.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the only French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, accompanied by a group of ships, would go to the Middle East in January. In addition, Macron said that Paris had deployed a special Jaguar unit in Saudi Arabia.

Dans la péninsule arabique et dans le Golfe arabo-persique, nous avons déployé en un temps record la Task force Jaguar, et par les initiatives avec nos partenaires européens, nous renforçons la sécurité maritime dans cette région si stratégique pour nous.

According to Reuters, the French military also deployed a radar system in Saudi Arabia to protect Saudi oil infrastructure. In turn, according to the Greek newspaper Katimerini, Greece intends to deploy Patriot in the Saudi kingdom. According to the publication, such a decision may be the result of pressure on Athens from Washington.

• Aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle
• Reuters
• © Feline Lim

Mikhail Alexandrov, a leading expert at the Center for Military-Political Research at MGIMO, attributes the increased activity of Washington’s allies to the fact that the United States has called on its partners to take a more active part in the general policy of pressure on Iran.

“The United States has long put forward the initiative to create such a naval coalition in the Persian Gulf with the aim of putting pressure on Iran,” Alexandrov said in an interview with RT. “US allies demonstrate loyalty, loyalty to obligations to the United States, sending ships there.”

In turn, Irina Fedorova notes that many countries sending their ships to the region, in contrast, seek to dissociate themselves from the United States. Therefore, they do not join the American initiative to patrol the region and act independently.

“Each of these countries wants to show its significance. This is a desire to show our independence from the USA, ”the political scientist is sure.

The need for diplomacy

Iran expresses dissatisfaction with the concentration of naval forces of other states near its territorial waters. In December, Iran, Russia and China conducted joint exercises in the Gulf of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean. At that time, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif emphasized that the “military exercises in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean,” carried out “in conjunction with Russian and Chinese partners,” illustrate “the desire to more broadly ensure the safety of vital sea lanes.”

Iran has long stated its readiness to work w / our neighbors to secure Persian Gulf. # HOPE-Hormuz Peace Endeavor-is on table right now

Our joint military drills in Oman Sea / Indian Ocean w / our Russian & Chinese partners make clear our broader commitment to secure vital waterways.

As Iranian Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari noted, “these maneuvers show that there is no need for an illegitimate presence of foreigners in the region.”

According to Mikhail Alexandrov, the concentration in the region of ships that Iran did not invite to its shores could potentially “provoke conflicts with Iran’s naval vessels.”

In September, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, announced a new Iranian initiative, the Hormuz Peace Endeavor (HOPE), calling on the states of the region together to ensure the safety of ships.

Russia also advocates the reduction of tension through diplomatic means. On January 15, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that Moscow had long been offering "the Gulf countries to think about a collective security mechanism, something like the OSCE in Europe."

• Sergey Lavrov
• RIA News
• © Alexander Wilf

“It is necessary to reduce tension,” Irina Fedorova believes. - And for this we need to make serious diplomatic efforts. The work of diplomats is the only alternative to war. ”

In turn, Mikhail Alexandrov notes that the further development of the situation largely depends on the actions of the United States, which provoked the whole crisis.

“There was no danger to the delivery of oil until the United States began to exert pressure on Iran, intimidate it, and threaten to strike. One thing is needed - for the USA to abandon its provocative policy towards Iran, and there will be no threat to oil supplies, ”the political scientist concluded.