Crisis on the seas: Give diplomacy a chance

Stena has a 23-member crew, 18 of whom are Indians. And the status of four Indians on Grace 1 is not clear.

Two incidents of oil tanker ‘piracy’ on the high seas by two nations this month threaten to snowball into a major faceoff, with war clouds looming and the fate of over 20 Indian sailors hanging in the balance. The first one carrying Iranian oil bound for Syria was seized by Gibraltar with the help of the UK’s Royal Marines under the pretext that supertanker Grace 1 had violated the European Union’s sanctions against war-torn Syria.

The second involved the boarding of an empty UK-flagged tanker, Stena Impero, by masked soldiers carrying machine guns rappelling down from a helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz and commandeering it to an Iranian island. While the UK called the first incident a legitimate case of policing of rogue shipment, Iran labelled it as piracy and did a tit-for-tat with Stena on Friday last. Stena has a 23-member crew, 18 of whom are Indians. And the status of four Indians on Grace 1 is not clear.

While there is global outrage over Iran’s hostility, Tehran’s confrontation with the West began after US President Donald Trump unilaterally tore up a bilateral deal to cap its nuclear ambitions. Ironically, Britain and the rest of Europe are critical of Trump’s decision to scrap the Iran deal. But Iran sees Britain as colluding with the US to impose economic hegemony, hence the hostility. Its messy neighbourhood spurred by its geo-political ambitions and proxy war with Yemen and Saudi Arabia are too well known.

Also, Iran and the US have shot down each other’s drones, and Trump has at least once changed his mind after ordering military strikes on Iran. With hotheads on both sides, turf wars could anytime escalate into a full-blown war. If that happens, its impact on the global economy, which is already in a tailspin, would be humongous. It’s in nobody’s interest to let the madness continue.

As for the Indian sailors, our embassy in Tehran is using diplomatic channels to ensure their safety. But Iran’s claim that the pace of the probe will depend on Stena’s crew is disturbing since the tanker’s captain is an Indian. One hopes all sides take a step back and give diplomacy a chance.