Tag: Gulf of Aden

Showdown looming off Yemen with sanctioned Iranian ‘aid’ ship

Interesting times.

Iran Shahed, with stern decked out in Yemeni flags. Iranian flag flies from traditional position on center fantail. (Image: YouTube, Christoph Hoerstel)
Iran Shahed, with stern decked out in Yemeni flags. Iranian flag flies from traditional position on center fantail. (Image: YouTube, Christoph Hoerstel)

There are some important things to know about the Iranian cargo shop Iran Shahed, which left Bandar Abbas, Iran on 11 May and expects to get to the Houthi-held port of Hodeidah, on the Red Sea, on 20-21 May.  Iran claims the ships is carrying only humanitarian-aid cargo.

1.  The ship itself is on the U.S. Treasury list of vessels and shipping entities under sanction due to complicity in arms proliferation.

2.  We aren’t going to do anything about that.

3.  The Saudis have imposed a blockade on Yemen and are determined to prevent the importation of arms (i.e., from Iran to the Houthis) by air or sea. Continue reading “Showdown looming off Yemen with sanctioned Iranian ‘aid’ ship”

Weird move to put carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt off Yemen

Interesting times.

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). (Image: Facebook)
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). (Image: Facebook)

New post up at Liberty Unyielding.  Enjoy!

China deploys submarine to Gulf of Aden

Interesting times.

Chinese Song-class (Type 039) submarine. (Image via ChineseDefence.com)
Chinese Song-class (Type 039) submarine. (Image via ChineseDefence.com)

New post up at Liberty Unyielding.  Enjoy!

Asian mysteries: MH370 and the Iranian naval flotilla

Something amiss here.

 

Conundrum.
Conundrum.

We appear to have ourselves a bona fide mystery.  If anyone in authority knows what happened to the Malaysian Air 777 that took off on 8 March headed for China, he’s not talking.  The most recent revelations, as readers no doubt know, suggest that the plane continued flying for about 7 hours after the last official contact from the cockpit.

The UK Mirror produced a graphic depicting the 634 airfields where Continue reading “Asian mysteries: MH370 and the Iranian naval flotilla”

Chinese warship arrives off Syria

Your father’s international order, nowhere in sight.

 

Chinese frigate Yancheng, thrilling the ladies in Cyprus. (Reuters photo.)
Chinese frigate Yancheng, thrilling the ladies in Cyprus. (Reuters photo.)

How many warships does it take to remove chemical weapons from Syria?  One more this week than it took last week, apparently.  If you’re a big, important country with a big, important navy, you want to be involved in the good-citizenship exercise in Syria.

A 31 December deadline for getting some of the chemical stockpile to waiting ships in Latakia was missed, as readers will remember.  But it looks like Continue reading “Chinese warship arrives off Syria”