Houthis say rescue of burning Red Sea oil tanker begins Sunday

Houthis say rescue of burning Red Sea oil tanker begins Sunday
A satellite view shows smoke and flames rising from the Sounion oil tanker on the Red Sea, August 29, 2024. (Maxar Technologies/Reuters)
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Updated 01 September 2024
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Houthis say rescue of burning Red Sea oil tanker begins Sunday

Houthis say rescue of burning Red Sea oil tanker begins Sunday
  • The Greek-flagged Sounion, carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil, has been abandoned since late last month after a Houthi assault destroyed its engine and caused a fire

AL-MUKALLA, Yemen: Yemen’s Houthi militia said that rescue ships and tugboats will begin recovering a burning oil tanker in the Red Sea on Sunday, as experts warn that time is running out to avoid a calamity as a fire on the vessel spreads.

The Greek-flagged Sounion, carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil, has been abandoned since late last month after a Houthi assault destroyed its engine and caused a fire, presenting a hazard to the maritime environment and commerce.

In a post on X on Saturday, Houthi Foreign Minister Jamal Amer said that the tugboats will reach and recover the tanker on Sunday, bolstering hopes of averting a major disaster in the Red Sea.

Since November, the Houthis have attacked commercial and navy ships in the Red Sea and other waters near Yemen with ballistic missiles, drones and boat drones, claiming to be acting in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

It comes as maritime experts and the EU naval mission in the Red Sea urged immediate and comprehensive international action to rescue the Sounion in order to avoid an environmental and shipping catastrophe in the Red Sea, which would affect Yemen and other Red Sea countries.

“MV Sounion represents a huge environmental risk that will affect all countries bordering the Red Sea,” the EU naval mission, known as EUNAVFOR ASPIDES, said in a post on X on Sunday.

Wim Zwijnenburg of the Humanitarian Disarmament Project at the Dutch peace organization PAX told Arab News on Sunday, citing recent satellite images, that the fire on the oil tanker is spreading because of the recent Houthi use of explosives onboard, which could damage the ship’s hull and cause the Sounion to sink.

“The fires and heat will lead to a deterioration of the structural integrity of the hull, which can have catastrophic consequences, with a wider environmental fallout for the Red Sea and coastal communities,” he said.

“The situation is getting more critical by the day. The fires are not contained and affect the pressure on the hull, which could lead to an explosion and sinking of the entire ship, with the remaining crude oil spreading.”

In addition to the Sounion, the Houthis have destroyed two commercial ships in the Red Sea since the start of their campaign, including the Belize-flagged and Lebanese-operated MV Rubymar, which was carrying 22,000 tonnes of ammonium phosphate-sulfate NPS fertilizer and more than 200 tonnes of fuel.

Zwijnenburg said that the explosion or leaking of the ship and its cargo would have a catastrophic impact on the marine and coastal environment, as well as people’s livelihoods in Yemen and Eritrea, adding that the salvage operation would begin by extinguishing the fire and transferring the ship’s cargo to another vessel.

“A salvage operation with security presence must be set up to stop the fires, tow the vessel to a safe area and transfer the contents to another tanker,” Zwijnenburg said.

Experts also warned that the Houthis may be exploiting the rescue operation as a bargaining chip to put pressure on the international community, as they did with the FSO Safer oil tanker off Yemen’s western city of Hodeidah.

According to Noam Raydan, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the US should immediately waive sanctions on regional tugboat companies and deploy international naval forces around the ship to prevent the Houthis from disrupting the operation.

She also called for international naval forces be prevent the Houthis from returning to ships and sinking them.

“Experience has shown that the group is willing to interfere with salvage efforts if they can turn the situation into a political bargaining chip — as seen most prominently during the protracted mission to empty the FSO Safer,” she said in an article published on the think tank’s website on Aug. 29.

Despite worldwide outcry over the devastating Houthi strikes on ships, the group’s
military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, claimed responsibility on Saturday night for a new missile attack on the Liberian-flagged merchant ship MV Groton in the Gulf of Aden, vowing to continue the campaign.

US Central Command said on Sunday morning that its forces had destroyed a drone and a drone boat in Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen.


Explosion occurs at Turkish oil refinery during drills, but no casualties are reported

Explosion occurs at Turkish oil refinery during drills, but no casualties are reported
Updated 1 min 8 sec ago
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Explosion occurs at Turkish oil refinery during drills, but no casualties are reported

Explosion occurs at Turkish oil refinery during drills, but no casualties are reported
ANKARA: An explosion occurred at an oil refinery in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday, an official said, adding the situation was “under control” and there were no reports of any casualties.
Mayor Tahir Buyukakin told private NTV television that the blast occurred at the Turkish Petroleum Refineries company, Tupras, in Izmit provicince during “routine drills.”
A fire was quickly brought under control by the privately owned company’s own emergency crews and no request for help was made, he said.
Video footage from the site showed smoke rising from the refinery.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.

Lebanon media reports strike on residential building south of Beirut

Lebanon media reports strike on residential building south of Beirut
Updated 31 sec ago
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Lebanon media reports strike on residential building south of Beirut

Lebanon media reports strike on residential building south of Beirut

BEIRUT: Lebanese state media reported a strike on an apartment in the Jiyeh coastal area south of Beirut on Tuesday, more than a month into the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The official National News Agency said “a raid targeted a residential apartment in a building in the town of Jiyeh,” where an AFP correspondent said a large plume of grey smoke covered the area.


Iran says killed eight militants since attack on police in province bordering Pakistan

Iran says killed eight militants since attack on police in province bordering Pakistan
Updated 39 min 2 sec ago
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Iran says killed eight militants since attack on police in province bordering Pakistan

Iran says killed eight militants since attack on police in province bordering Pakistan
  • Militants from the Jaish Al-Adl group killed 10 police officers during a raid in Sistan-Baluchistan province on October 26
  • Sistan-Baluchistan, which straddles border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, is one of Iran’s most impoverished provinces

TEHRAN: Iran’s military has killed eight militants in an operation in the restive southeast since a deadly attack last month on a police station, state media reported Tuesday.
Militants from the Pakistan-based Jaish Al-Adl group killed 10 police officers during a raid on October 26 in Sistan-Baluchistan province — one of the deadliest attacks in the region in recent months.
Sistan-Baluchistan, which straddles the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, is one of Iran’s most impoverished provinces.
It has long been a flashpoint for cross-border attacks by separatists and extremists, opposed to the authorities in Iran.
Revolutionary Guards commander Ahmad Shafahi said “a total of eight terrorists have been killed” since the beginning of operations in the province, according to the official IRNA news agency on Tuesday.
“Fourteen other terrorists have been arrested,” including key figures involved in the attack, he said, adding security forces seized weapons and ammunition.
Shortly after the attack in Taftan county, some 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran, a report on the Tasnim news agency said four militants had been killed and four others arrested.
Late on Monday, IRNA quoted Guards ground forces commander Mohammad Pakpour as saying the attackers “were not Iranian,” though he did not specify their nationalities.
In early October, at least six people including police officers were killed in two separate attacks in the province.
Jaish Al-Adl said on Telegram they had carried out the attacks.
Formed in 2012 by Baluch separatists, the group is proscribed as a “terrorist organization” by both Iran and the United States.
 
 


Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says

Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says
Updated 05 November 2024
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Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says

Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says
  • The patients will travel in a large convoy on Wednesday via the Kerem Shalom crossing

GENEVA: More than 100 patients including children suffering from trauma injuries and chronic diseases will be evacuated from Gaza on Wednesday in a rare transfer out of the war-ravaged enclave, a World Health Organization official said.
“These are ad hoc measures. What we have requested repeatedly is a sustained medevac (medical evacuation) outside of Gaza,” said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, adding that 12,000 people were awaiting transfer.
The patients will travel in a large convoy on Wednesday via the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel before flying to the United Arab Emirates, he added, and then a portion will travel to Romania.


Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions

Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions
Updated 05 November 2024
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Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions

Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions
  • In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security

DUBAI: Two French citizens detained in Iran since May 2022 are in good health and being held in good detention conditions, Iran’s judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Tuesday, according to state media.
Last month, France’s foreign ministry said the conditions that three of its nationals were being held in by Iran were unacceptable.
“According to the relevant authorities, these two people have good conditions in the detention center and are in good health, so any claim regarding their conditions being abnormal is rejected,” Jahangir said.
The spokesperson was referring to Cecile Koehler and Jacques Paris, who he said were arrested on charges of espionage and will have their next court hearing on Nov. 24.
Jahangir did not mention the third French national detained in Iran. French media have disclosed only his first name, Olivier.
In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.
Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests.