The official said the tanker, which was carrying crude oil from Iraq, was not seized and just detained by the IRGC for some inspections amid environmental concerns.
The reason was not accepted by the Indian officials in Delhi because the ship after being detained was taken into Iranian waters.
Iranians have agreed to release the vessel only after securing some undertakings from the captain of the ship, officials said.
The Shipping Ministry was looking into the issue, a senior ministry official said.
The development assumes significance as it comes at a time when India has taken steps to reduce its crude imports from Iran.
Oil imports from Iran have been cut, after sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union (EU).India’s crude imports from Iran plunged by more than 26.5 per cent in the 2012-13 financial year (April-March) as US and European sanctions on Tehran combined to make it difficult for Indian refiners to ship Iranian oil.Imports of Iranian crude fell to 13.3 million mt, or close to 267,100 b/d, in 2012-13 from 18.1 million mt, or around 362,500 b/d, in 2011-12.Earlier sources had said Iran had slipped to sixth place among India’s top crude suppliers in the year to March 31 from second place behind OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia in the previous financial year.Imports from Iran were as high as 21.2 million mt, or 425,000 b/d, in 2009-10 before dropping to 18.5 million mt, or 371,520 b/d in 2010-11.
India’s total volume of imported crude, meanwhile, rose to 182.5 million mt, or 3.67 million b/d, in 2012-13 from 171.7 million mt (3.44 million b/d) in 2011-12, 163.4 million mt (3.28 million mt) in 2010-11 and 159.2 million mt (3.2 million b/d) in 2009-10.
NEW DELHI: In a development with serious international r
amifications, the (IRGC) has detained an Indian ship carrying oil in the Persian Gulf. Sources said the ship, named MT Desh Shanti, was on its way to India from Iraq when it was detained by the IRGC.
The ship is owned by the Shipping Corporation of India. The development has stunned authorities here as it was transporting oil from Iraq, a country which has overtaken as the second largest supplier of crude to India after Saudi Arabia.
The government-owned ship was detained in international waters in the before being coerced into entering Iranian waters. Late Wednesday evening, the ship was on its way to the Bandar Abbas port, guided by the IRGC.
Sources said Iran claimed to have detained the ship because of environmental concerns. Tehran authorities conveyed to India that the ship was polluting Iranian waters, but this is being seen as flimsy reasoning.
The development has shocked the Indian establishment, which on Wednesday evening was still trying to gather information on the incident. Although India has taken steps to reduce its crude imports from Iran, Tehran had never hinted that it could resort to such drastic actions.
India has cut crude imports from Iran, a fallout of sanctions imposed by the US and the EU. The cut, in fact, helped India — along with China and South Korea — win a waiver from the US allowing it to continue to import crude from Iran.
In 2012, India is estimated to have imported crude from Iraq worth more than $15 billion. IOC is the largest importer of crude oil from Iraq. In October 2010, Iraq replaced Iran as the country with the third largest proven reserves of 143.1 billion barrels of oil.
For India, it is not far-fetched to draw the conclusion that Tehran is peeved with India’s rising crude imports from Iraq and that the seizure of the ship may be a way of showing its displeasure. But this doesn’t just have consequences for India-Iran ties but also internationally, as it will raise questions about what Tehran intends to do in the Persian Gulf where it has even threatened use of force in the past to show its influence in the oil trade.
Iranian authorities are known to have recently threatened that Tehran will block the crucial oil trade route in the face of sanctions imposed by western countries. The Strait of Hormuz links the Gulf with the , facilitating transport of oil from major oil producing countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Iran’s vice-president Mohammad Reza Rahimi had warned in 2011 that “not a drop of oil” would be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz if more sanctions were imposed on Iran.
توقیف یک نفتکش هندی در خلیج فارس توسط سپاه پاسداران
به گزارش روزنامه تایمز هندوستان و خبرگزاری ها ، یک نفتکش هندی به نام دش شانتی که از عراق عازم هندوستان بود در خلیج فارس توسط سپاه پاسداران توقیف شد.
توقیف این کشتی که متعلق به شرکت حمل و نقل هندوستان است باعث سردرگمی مقامات هندی شده است. این نفتکش روز چهارشنبه در آبهای بین المللی خلیج فارس بازداشت شده است و توسط سپاه پاسداران به سمت بندر عباس هدایت شده است.
روزنامه تایمز هندوستان به نقل از منابع خود می گوید که بازداشت این کشتی به دلیل نگرانی های زیست محیطی صورت گرفته است.
مقامات ایران می گویند این نفتکش آبهای ایران را آلوده کرده است اما این روزنامه دلایل تهران را سست و غیر قابل اتکا می داند.
تعجب مقامات هندی تا حدودی از آنجا ناشی می شود که با وجود کاهش واردات نفت خام هند از ایران، تهران هرگز اشاره ای به تمایلش برای انجام چنین اقداماتی بروز نداده بود.
واردات نفت هندوستان از ایران که به دلیل تحریم های ایالات متحده علیه ایران رخ داده به این کشور – در کنار چین و کره جنوبی- کمک کرده است تا از تحریم های آمریکا مستثنی شود.
در اکتبر 2010 عراق با پیشی گرفتن از ایران در جایگاه دوم صادر کنندگان نفت در دنیا قرار گرفت. واردات نفت از عراق به هندوستان در سال 2012 به رقم پانزده میلیارد دلار رسید.
تایمز هندوستان در ادامه با لحنی تهدید آمیز می نویسد: ” برای هند چندان دور از ذهن نیست که اقدام ایران در توقیف کشتی هندی به دلیل نارضایتی اش از کاهش واردات نفت هند از این کشور بوده است اما ایران باید بداند چنین اقداماتی نه تنها روابط بین دو کشور را خدشه دار می کند بلکه عواقب بین المللی برای ایران خواهد داشت. عواقبی که ناشی از توجه به نقش ایران در خلیج فارس به عنوان کنترل کننده عبور و مرور نفت خواهد بود.”
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