Iran starts 20 per cent uranium enrichment, seizes oil tanker in strait

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Iran starts 20 per cent uranium enrichment, seizes oil tanker in strait

By Jon Gambrell and Isabel Debre

Dubai: Iran has begun enriching uranium up to 20 per cent at an underground facility and seized a South Korean-flagged oil tanker in the crucial Strait of Hormuz, further escalating tensions in the Middle East between Tehran and the West.

The confirmation of enrichment at Fordo came as fears rose that Tehran had seized the MT Hankuk Chemi. Iran later acknowledged the seizure, alleging the vessel's “oil pollution” sparked the move.

South Korea's foreign minister said on Tuesday she is making diplomatic efforts to secure the release of the tanker.

Kang Kyung-wha said she is now in talks with diplomats in Tehran and Seoul to resolve the issue, while Tehran had earlier announced they would be negotiating eith South Korea this week for the release of billions of dollars in its assets now frozen in Seoul.

South Korea's foreign ministry is reviewing whether a senior diplomat would be visiting Tehran on Sunday as planned, an official said.

Iranian state TV cited a Tehran government official as saying Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun had been due to discuss Iran's demand that $7 billion in frozen funds be released.

In Seoul a foreign ministry official told Reuters "the plan is unclear as of now" regarding Choi's visit.

The dual incidents come amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States in the waning days of President Donald Trump's term in office. During Trump's tenure, the US leader unilaterally withdrew from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers in 2018 and set off months of tense episodes that increasingly strained relations between the countries.

Iranian state television quoted spokesman Ali Rabiei as saying that President Hassan Rouhani had given the order for the move at the Fordo facility.

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Iran’s decision to begin enriching to 20 per cent purity a decade ago nearly triggered an Israeli strike targeting its nuclear facilities, tensions that only abated with the 2015 atomic deal. A resumption of 20 per cent enrichment could see that brinksmanship return as that level of purity is only a technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent.

From Israel, which has its own undeclared nuclear weapons program, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised Iran’s enrichment decision, saying it “cannot be explained in any way other than the continuation of realising its goal to develop a military nuclear program”.

Tehran has long maintained its nuclear program is peaceful. The US State Department says that as late as last year, it “continued to assess that Iran is not currently engaged in key activities associated with the design and development of a nuclear weapon”.

Meanwhile, satellite data from MarineTraffic.com showed the MT Hankuk Chemi off the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on Monday afternoon with no explanation as to the abrupt change in the vessel's path. It had been travelling from a petrochemicals facility in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. The vessel had been carrying an unknown chemical shipment, according to data-analysis firm Refinitiv.

The MT Hankuk Chemi was stopped by Iranian authorities over alleged “oil pollution” in the Persian Gulf.

The MT Hankuk Chemi was stopped by Iranian authorities over alleged “oil pollution” in the Persian Gulf. Credit: Tasnim News Agency via AP

Iran's semi-official news agencies reported that authorities had arrested the crew members on the seized vessel, noting that they were citizens of Korea, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam. The Iranian report did not say how many sailors were on board, but Dryad Global, a maritime security firm, earlier said the ship had 23 sailors from Indonesia and Myanmar. The vessel had been carrying 7,200 tons of ethanol, according to state TV-affiliated news sites.

The United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations, an information exchange overseen by the British royal navy in the region, acknowledged an “interaction” between a merchant vessel and Iranian authorities in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20 per cent of all the world's oil passes. As a result, the merchant vessel made an “alteration of course” north into Iran’s territorial waters, the UKMTO said.

Over the past months Iran has sought to escalate pressure on South Korea to unlock some $US7 billion ($9.07 billion) in frozen assets from oil sales earned before the Trump administration tightened sanctions on the country’s oil exports.

Commander Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the US Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said authorities there were aware and monitoring the situation.

Iran’s announcement coincides with the anniversary of the US drone strike killing Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad last year. Iran responded by launching a ballistic missiles at US bases in Iraq, injuring dozens of US troops. Tehran also accidentally shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet that night, killing all 176 people on board.

As the anniversary approached and fears grew of possible Iranian retaliation, the US dispatched B-52 bombers over the region and ordered a nuclear-powered submarine into the Persian Gulf.

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In a further sign of US-Iran tension, acting US defence secretary Christopher Miller announced late on Sunday that he changed his mind about sending the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz home from the Middle East and instead will keep the vessel on duty. He cited Iranian threats against President Trump and other US government officials as the reason for the redeployment, without elaborating.

Last week, sailors discovered a limpet mine stuck on a tanker in the Persian Gulf off Iraq near the Iranian border as it prepared to transfer fuel to another tanker owned by a company traded on the New York Stock Exchange. No one has claimed responsibility for the mining, though it comes after a series of similar attacks in 2019 near the Strait of Hormuz that the US Navy blamed on Iran. Tehran denied involvement.

In November, an Iranian scientist who founded the country’s military nuclear program two decades earlier was killed in an attack that Tehran blames on Israel.

AP, Reuters

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