Imam Khomeini News

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have targeted a cargo ship in the Red Sea which shipping analysts said on Monday had been carrying corn to Iran.It appeared to be the first time the Houthis have targeted an Iran-bound vessel since starting attacks on international shipping in solidarity with Palestinians over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, shipping sources said.A U.S. defence official said it was likely that the ship had been targeted but not hit, but provided no further comment. Earlier…

Dozens of merchant ships with grains and sugar are stuck outside Iranian ports after weeks of delays as payments snags disrupt flows of goods into the country, according to trade sources and shipping data. Food is exempt from the West's sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, but the impact of the sanctions on Iran's financial system has created complex and erratic payment arrangements with international companies. The latest payment issues have led to ships being unable to discharge cargoes, with at least 40 bulk carrier ships stuck outside the major Iranian ports of Bandar Imam Khomeini and Bandar Abbas, ship tracking data on Refinitiv showed. Iran’s foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment.

Iran and Syria have signed an agreement on mutual maritime cooperation during  the sixth round of joint maritime committee meeting on the maritime and port cooperation.The Managing Director of Iran's Maritime and Port Organization (PMO) Mohammad Rastad, and the Syrian Deputy Minister of Maritime Transportation Mohammad Ammar Kamal Al-Din, signed the agreement.The agreement has emphasized the expansion of maritime cooperation, as well as maritime education and training together with increasing maritime transportation through the shipping lines of both countries.The memorandum also emphasized the increase in maritime transport through the shipping lines of the two countries…

A delegation of Algerian Ministry of Transport executives visiting Iran's Imam Khomeini Port Special Economic Zone explored the development of port and maritime between the port of Imam Khomeini and the ports of Algeria.Adel Deris, Director General of Khuzestan Ports and Maritime, referring to Algerian delegation's two-day visit to Imam Khomeini Port Complex and other Ports in Khuzestan Province in Iran, said: "During this visit, the officials of Algeria's Ministry of Transport visited Khuzestan Port Facilities and Achievements, and the areas of greater co-operation in fields such as fighting against pollution, unloading and loading…

The first international container ships began arriving in Iran this week after the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, yet many ship owners remain wary of resuming business until sanctions are removed - still some months away. Iran had depended on foreign ships for much of its imports, but has relied more on land routes and its own commercial fleet, particularly since 2012, as layers of sanctions led to an exodus of Western shipping firms, leading to supply disruptions. In one of the first signs of change, the world's third largest container shipping group, France's CMA CGM, said on Monday it would restart services to Iran in early August.

Iran is sidestepping Western sanctions and managing to sell hundreds of thousands of tonnes of fuel oil every month through companies based in the U.S.-allied United Arab Emirates, trading sources told Reuters. The U.S. and EU sanctions that came into force in 2012 prohibit the import, purchase and transport of Iranian petroleum products to pressure Tehran to halt its disputed nuclear programme. Washington has also pressed its allies around the world to clamp down on the shipping of Iranian oil products. But Tehran has been using innovative methods to circumvent the restrictions, several Middle East-based trading sources said. They include tankers switching off their tracking systems…

Payment problems are disrupting commercial food cargoes to Iran, with hundreds of thousands of tonnes of grain and sugar stuck in transit, as Western banking sanctions complicate deals and trade financiers scale back exposure. Iran is not barred from buying food or other "humanitarian" goods under sanctions imposed over Tehran's pursuit of nuclear technology, but measures by the European Union and the United States have made trade more difficult over the past two years. Several international trade sources, with knowledge of deals that have been affected, told Reuters that ships carrying cargoes of grain, including wheat and soybeans, as well as raw sugar, have been stuck for several weeks outside Iranian cargo ports such as Bandar Imam Khomeini and Bandar Abbas.

All 28 Chinese crew members aboard a China-linked cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates have been rescued, the Chinese embassy in Tehran said. The cargo ship, Xianghuamen, was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Sea of Oman near Iran's southern port of Chabahar.The vessel, registered in Panama, belongs to Nanjing Ocean Shipping company in eastern China. The cargo ship, setting off from Shanghai, made a stopover in Singapore to unload, then headed for Imam Khomeini port in southwestern Iran when it was hijacked. Nine Somali pirates climbed onto the cargo ship by their own ladders, fired shots on the ship and seized the Chinese crew members on board. Two Iranian naval warships participating in the rescue operation followed the vessel and ordered the pirates to surrender.

Early morning on 21 April, the Bulk Carrier MV Rosalia D’Amato was pirated approximately 350NM South East of Salalah, Oman, in the Indian Ocean. The 74,500 tonne Italian flagged and owned vessel was on its way to Bandar Imam Khomeini (Iran) from Paranagua (Brazil) when it was attacked by a single skiff. Coalition warships had communications with the vessel and were told: ‘pirates onboard stay away’. The MV Rosalia D’Amato has a crew of 21 (six Italians, 15 Filipinos). There is no further information about the crew at present.