U.S. OFFERS BRIBES TO IRAN OIL SHIP'S CAPTAINS

…Iran oil supertanker, GRACE I, now re-named: ADRIAN DARYA I.

US offers millions to entice Iran captains to pilot their ships to a US port.

Just when you think that the Trump administration has hit bottom, something happens to show that there is no bottom to the Trump administration.

The Financial Times (FT), a long-time, well respected newspaper has reported that a senior US State Department official offered money to the captain of an Iranian tanker that was seized off the coast of Gibraltar in early July.  This was part of the Trump administration's so called "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran.

Brian Hook, the US special representative for Iran, offered "several million dollars" to the captain of the Iranian Grace I vessel, which was detained off the coast of Gibraltar on July 4^th amid suspicion it was going to deliver oil to Syria.

According to the FT, Mr. Hook had sent an email to Captain Akhilesh Kumar just before Washington imposed sanctions on the supertanker.  The money was aimed to entice the captain to pilot the ship to a port where the US could impound the ship.

"This is Brian Hook . . . I work for secretary of state Mike Pompeo and serve as the US Representative for Iran," Hook wrote in an email.  'With this money you can have any life you wish and be well-off in old age... If you choose not to take this easy path, life will be much harder for you'

But it didn’t stop with this one ship.  Hook had also reached out to a dozen ship captains via email or text in recent months "in an effort to scare mariners into understanding that helping Iran evade sanctions comes at a heavy price", the Financial Times reported.  "With this money you can have any life you wish and be well-off in old age," Hook repeated this message in a second email to Captain Kumar, according to FT.

"If you choose not to take this easy path, life will be much harder for you."

Apparently, Mr. Hook doesn’t realize that if any Iranian ship captain actually accepted a bribe from the US, that captain and his family’s lives would all be put at risk from Iran’s strict authoritarian government.

U.S State Dept. Representative, Brian Hook

The seizure of the Iranian vessel, which has since been renamed Adrian Darya I, this has escalated an ongoing diplomatic dispute between Iran and the US.

The President’s administration has accused Iran of threatening vessels in Gulf waters and it has launched an international coalition to ensure safe passage through the area.

Iran has refuted US claims that an international mission in the Gulf is necessary, saying that regional countries can handle the security there.  Iranian leaders previously called the seizure of the ship an act of "piracy" and vowed not to let it go without retaliation.

Two weeks after the Iranian vessel was taken, Iran impounded British tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz for breaking "international maritime rules".

Despite US attempts to stop the Adrian Darya I's release from Gibraltar, including issuing a warrant in mid-August, the authorities in Gibraltar let the vessel leave port on  August 18^th when the US offered the reward.

The US also announced it would offer a reward for any information that helps to disrupt Iran's oil shipping network, which it referred to as an "oil-for-terror network".

Speaking to reporters, Hook said that includes any information that could disrupt Iranian vessels like the Adrian Darya I.

The US has imposed more new sanctions on Iran, and they are offering reward for tips on the oil shipping network.

"This vessel was released by Gibraltar based on guarantees provided by the Iranian Government that it would not deliver its oil to Syria, which is exactly where it appears to be headed now," Hook said.

Hook then touted the US government's decision last week to sanction the ship's captain "for providing material support to a terrorist organization".

"The criminal liability and immigration consequences of crewing Iranian tankers are real and not worth the risk," Hook said.

Iran has remained defiant in the face of US actions, calling on European countries to help it withstand the pressure of renewed American sanctions on several of its key industries.

Iranian leaders have said they intend to slowly withdraw from all of their commitments under the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, which saw Iran curb its nuclear program in exchange for a lifting of international sanctions.

When Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, his administration re-imposed the series of crippling sanctions against Iran.

The Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani has insisted that Iran won't enter into any nuclear negotiations with the US until the sanctions are lifted.

There is no way that Trump will lift those sanctions, and he is threatening even stricter sanctions.

I am not in support of Iran, but it would not surprise me if th US ended up in a shooting war with perhaps both North Korea and Iran, before we can get rid of the US President Trump.

Copyright G. Ater 2019