Tasnim News

Iran's Alborz warship has entered the Red Sea, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday, at a time of soaring tensions on the key shipping route amid the Israel-Hamas war and attacks on vessels by forces allied to Tehran.Tasnim did not give details of the Alborz's mission but said Iranian warships had been operating in open waters to secure shipping routes, combat piracy and carry out other tasks since 2009.Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting vessels…

Naval forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guards have in recent days seized two Panama-flagged ships smuggling a total of 1.5 million liters of fuel, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday.The two ships had 37 crew members in all from various countries, and were seized on their way out of Iran, it added.(Reuters - Reporting by Elwely Elwelly; editing by Mark Heinrich)

Iran's Revolutionary Guards' navy has unveiled new vessels equipped with 600-km range missiles at a time of rising tensions with the U.S. in the Gulf, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday.The announcement was made during a military exercise off the coast of Abu Musa island, one of three Gulf islands under Iranian control but disputed by the United Arab Emirates.The news agency gave no details about the missiles but cited a commander on the need to defend the islands."The islands of the Persian Gulf are part of Iran's honour and we will defend them…

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander accused the U.S. Navy on Monday of defending fuel smuggling in the Gulf by trying to interfere when Iran intercepted a ship last week."On July 6th, Revolutionary Guards' Navy personnel were inspecting a ship with the name NADA 2 that was involved in smuggling Iranian oil and gas in the Persian Gulf, which the Americans sought to prevent through a series of unprofessional and risky actions," IRGC Commander Ramazan Zirrahi said in comments reported by Iran's Tasnim news agency.On July 7th…

Iranian authorities have seized a vessel carrying 106,500 liters of smuggled fuel and arrested nine crew members, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday."On the orders of the Qeshm Prosecutor, the officers of the marine base, while identifying a vessel carrying 106,500 litres of smuggled fuel, started the process of seizing it," said the chief justice of Hormozgan province.Iran, which has some of the world’s cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the fall of its currency…

Syria's oil ministry said firefighters on Saturday put out a fire on an oil tanker off the Baniyas refinery after a suspected attack by a drone coming from the direction of Lebanese waters.The identity of the vessel was unclear, with Iran's al-Alam TV saying it was one of three Iranian oil tankers that had recently arrived at the Syrian oil terminal, while the semi-official news agency Tasnim denied it was Iranian.TankerTrackers said in a tweet that "the tanker seen burning today off the coast of Baniyas is not an Iranian vessel", but Beirut-registered.Syria's coastal town of Baniyas houses a refinery, which along with another in Homs…

An Iranian cargo ship has come under attack in the Red Sea, Al Arabiya TV reported on Tuesday, quoting unnamed sources, and semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim said the vessel was targeted by a limpet mine.Al Arabiya cited the sources as saying the vessel was attacked off the coast of Eritrea and was affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, but provided no evidence to support the assertion.Tasnim identified the ship as the Iran Saviz. “The vessel Iran Saviz has been stationed in the Red Sea for the past few years to support Iranian commandos sent on commercial vessel (antipiracy) escort missions,” it reported.Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps seized a South Korean-flagged tanker in Gulf waters and detained its crew, Iranian media said on Monday, amid tensions between Tehran and Seoul over Iranian funds frozen in South Korean banks due to U.S. sanctions.Seoul confirmed the seizure of a South Korean chemical tanker by Iranian authorities in the waters off Oman, and demanded its immediate release.Several Iranian media outlets, including state TV, said the Guards navy captured the vessel for polluting the Gulf with chemicals."According to initial reports by local officials, it is purely a technical matter and the ship was taken to shore for polluting the sea…

At least seven ships have caught fire at Iran’s Bushehr port, the Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday, in what appeared to be the latest in a series of fires and explosions around the country, some of which have hit sensitive sites.No casualties have been reported, the agency said.Plumes of dense black smoke billowed into the air, in a photograph of the incident published by the official IRNA news agency. State broadcaster IRIB showed fighters tackling clouds of smoke at a shipyard at the southern port on the Gulf.There have been several explosions and fires around Iranian military…

The U.S. maritime agency has told U.S.-flagged commercial vessels they should send transit plans in advance to American and British naval authorities if they intend to sail in Gulf waters following several incidents over tankers involving Iran.The seizure of commercial vessels and attacks on tankers near the Strait of Hormuz have unsettled shipping lanes that link Middle Eastern oil producers to global markets.The United States, which has increased its military forces in the region…

Iran on Friday denied President Donald Trump's assertion that the U.S. Navy has destroyed one of its drones, saying all of its unmanned planes were accounted for, amid growing international concern that both sides could blunder into a war in the Gulf.In the latest episode to test nerves around the strategic waterway, Trump said on Thursday the drone had flown to within 1,000 yards (914 metres) of the U.S. warship Boxer in a "provocative and hostile action" and had ignored several calls to stand down.Iran dismissed the report."All drones belonging to Iran in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz ... returned safely to their bases after their mission of identification and control…

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday their forces were ready to implement Iran's threat to block the Strait of Hormuz and that if Iran cannot sell its oil under the U.S. pressure, no other regional country will be allowed to."We are hopeful that this plan expressed by our president will be implemented if needed ... We will make the enemy understand that either all can use the Strait of Hormuz or no one,” Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp, was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin

Iran and Kazakhstan established a joint shipping company to boost trade, said the managing director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL).   Mohammad Saeedi told Tasnim News Agency that Iran and Kazakhstan's state-owned railroad companies had established the joint shipping company to connect Central Asia to southern Iran.   The IRISL chief said the head office of the firm is in the Iranian port city of Bandar Anzali and a representative office will be also established in the Kazakh port city of Aktau.   In April 2016, Iran and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the establishment of the joint shipping company in the presence of their presidents in Tehran.

An Iranian military vessel confronted an American warship in the Gulf and warned it to stay away from a damaged Iranian fishing boat, Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday, but the U.S. Navy denied any direct contact with Iranian forces. The American vessel turned away after the warning from the Iranian ship, which belonged to the naval branch of the Iranian army, according to Tasnim. The Iranian military vessel then towed the fishing boat, which had sent out a distress signal after taking on water, back to shore. The agency did not specify when the incident, close to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, took place. In statement, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) said the coastal patrol USS Tempest, operating in the Gulf of Oman on Sept.

Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) rejected U.S. criticism that it flew a drone unsafely near a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Gulf and it defended its right to carry out air patrol missions in the area. On Monday the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said that an Iranian drone had come within 1,000 feet (300 meters) of a U.S. aircraft carrier while it was in international waters in the Gulf conducting flight operations. Spokesman Lieutenant Ian McConnaughey said the Iranian drone "conducted an unsafe and unprofessional approach" as it passed by the USS Nimitz without navigation lights late on Sunday. Iran's IRGC…

The Saudi navy has captured three members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from a boat seized last week as it approached the kingdom's offshore Marjan oilfield, the Saudi information ministry said on Monday. Relations between the two countries are at their worst in years, with each accusing the other of subverting regional security and support opposite sides in conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. "This was one of three vessels which were intercepted by Saudi forces. It was captured with the three men on board, the other two escaped," a statement from the ministry's center for international communications said. "The three captured members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard are now being questioned by Saudi authorities," it said, citing a Saudi official.

Amid rising tensions with the US, Iranian naval forces have launched the final stage of a large-scale drill north of the Indian Ocean to enhance their defense capabilities, reports PressTV. Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari announced the beginning of the maneuver, code-named Velayat 95, on Sunday. The latest exercise, stretching from the Strait of Hormuz and Oman Sea to north of the Indian Ocean, marks the last phase of war games that started in 2016. The commander said that the war games include electronic warfare, missile tests, intelligence operations, the deployment of submarines, and relief and rescue operations, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) warned Saudi naval vessels taking part in military exercises in the Gulf on Wednesday not to get close to Iranian waters. "The Revolutionary Guards naval forces believe this war game is mainly to create tension and destabilise the Persian Gulf," the IRGC said in a statement published on Tasnim news agency. Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin

Russia and Iran plan railway link through Azerbaijan that would aim to grab a share of the cargo now being shipped through the Suez Canal, reports Tasnim. Russia’s transport minister, Maxim Sokolovm, said Tehran and Moscow are considering establishing a rail link that would foster trade connectivity through a less trodden path than the Suez Canal. The International North-South Transport Corridor (NSTC), a multi-model route to link India and the Middle East to the Caucasus, Central Asia and Europe, is being nurtured for significantly reducing costs and travel time and boosting trade. “If the rail link to Iran is built, it can take some share of the cargo that’s being transported via Suez,” Sokolov said in an interview on Monday, Bloomberg reported.

Closer business ties with Iran would enable Hong Kong  to tackle the downturn in the seaborne sector, reports Tasnim quoting Stephen Wong of Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). "Hong Kong's crucial shipping trade is hoping China's overseas infrastructure plan and closer business ties with Iran will enable the city to tackle the downturn in the seaborne sector and tougher competition," Stephen said. "A lot of people have been dealing with Iran through third parties," said Stephen Wong of the HKTDC. Now that sanctions are taken away, Hong Kong will benefit ... I'm sure that the trade will grow,” he added. According to a report in Reuters…

The chief executive of Frontline, one of the world's largest independent tanker firms, said it is likely to take another two or three months until insurance for cargoes carrying oil from Iran is secured, according to a report in Tasnim. "We have not lifted anything yet, there are still terms of insurance and payments. There are still some outstanding (issues). (But) we expect that to be in place within two to three months," said Robert Hvide Macleod. "That could change, but two to three months (is) our estimate," he added, Reuters reported on Tuesday. MacLeod is also quoted as saying chartering requirements from Iran will increase as the country is preferring to use its current fleet to store rather than transport oil. This trend will continue as Iran lacks onshore storage facilities.

The Geneva-based Swiss company, Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. (MSC), which is the world’s second-largest shipping line in terms of container vessel capacity, has returned to Iran more than six years after it docked at an Iranian port the last time. According to Tasnim news agency, the Swiss ship MSC Domitille arrived at the second terminal of largest Iranian port Shahid Rajaee on Thursday. This follows the implementation of a recent nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, which will terminate all anti-Iran sanctions. Ebrahim Eidani, the director-general of Ports and Maritime Organization of Hormozgan province, said the ship was the first one belonging to the Swiss company docking in Iran after six years.

The Marseille-based French company CMA CGM S.A has announced readiness to start operation in Iran on August 6. CMA CGM,  the world’s third-largest shipping line in terms of container vessel capacity,  will add Shahid Rajaei port in Iran to its Asia-Europe loop. Ebrahim Idani, director general of Hormozgan Ports and Maritime Department, told local media that CMA CGM's 11,500 teu Andromeda is expected to call in August. The French liner’s first priority is establishment of a shipping route to Iran and then make investment in the Islamic Republic’s maritime industry and development of ports, the Tasnim News Agency reported on Sunday quoting Jalil Eslami, the deputy director of  Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) for the ports affairs, as saying.