CENTCOM Confronts Iran's Threat to Navigation in Strait of Hormuz

FILE - This still image taken from surveillance video from a US Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon shows three Iranian Revolutionary Guard fast-attack vessels near a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, June 4, 2023. (US Navy via AP, File)
FILE - This still image taken from surveillance video from a US Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon shows three Iranian Revolutionary Guard fast-attack vessels near a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, June 4, 2023. (US Navy via AP, File)
TT

CENTCOM Confronts Iran's Threat to Navigation in Strait of Hormuz

FILE - This still image taken from surveillance video from a US Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon shows three Iranian Revolutionary Guard fast-attack vessels near a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, June 4, 2023. (US Navy via AP, File)
FILE - This still image taken from surveillance video from a US Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon shows three Iranian Revolutionary Guard fast-attack vessels near a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, June 4, 2023. (US Navy via AP, File)

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) began confronting Iran's activities in the seas, which Washington considers a threat to the navigation of commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding waters.

CENTCOM said in a statement that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered the deployment of an Amphibious Readiness Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit into the CENTCOM area of responsibility, in addition to the recently approved forces comprising F-35s, F-16s, and a guided missile destroyer.

The statement added: "US Central Command is committed to defending freedom of navigation within our area of responsibility, which includes some of the most important waterways in the world."

"These additional forces provide unique capabilities, which alongside our partners nations in the region, further safeguard the free flow of international commerce and uphold the rules-based international order, and deter Iranian destabilizing activities in the region," said CENTCOM Commander General Michael Kurilla.

Earlier this month, the US Navy intervened to prevent Iran from seizing two tankers in the Gulf of Oman, including a case in which an Iranian ship fired on an oil tanker.

A US Navy destroyer approached the ships to prevent the oil tanker from being seized, and the Iranian vessel changed course and left the area.

- Iran loses bid to host shipping event

An International Maritime Organization (IMO) spokesman said that its executive body rejected Iran's offer to host a maritime event in October after a proposal led by the US to rescind the bid was approved.

The move will likely raise tensions between Washington and Iran further after Tehran tried to seize the Richmond Voyager tanker, managed by US oil major Chevron, earlier in July in international Gulf waters.

Iran had proposed to host a shipping event in Tehran in late October this year in conjunction with an annual maritime day hosted by the IMO, which was accepted in 2015 by the IMO's Executive Council.

In a working paper seen by Reuters and submitted to the IMO's Council, the US proposed rescinding the decision.

"In the last two years, Iran has attacked, harassed or detained more than 20 vessels engaged in commercial activities," the US said in the paper, which was co-sponsored by Britain.

"Iran has seized or attempted to seize commercial vessels without pretext, warning, or prior justification."

The paper added that Iran had fired on the Richmond Voyager using live fire, "threatening the lives of seafarers onboard," which also prompted the proposal.

- Iran's anger

Most of the IMO Council's 40 member countries voted in favor of the proposal on Thursday, the IMO spokesperson said.

"Iran has no business hosting any official international gathering related to maritime affairs because it has repeatedly demonstrated its contempt for international maritime rules, standards, and safety,” US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told reporters in a news briefing.

For its part, Iran has expressed outrage, with Iran's foreign ministry criticizing the United States for leading a proposal to cancel its bid.

"This US move proved that the political abuse of the UN's technical and expert institutions has no limits for this country (US), even if it reduces the global credit of those organizations," said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani.

- Frequent detentions of ships

Earlier this month, the US Navy said it had intervened to prevent Iran from commandeering two commercial tankers in the Gulf waters.

In April, the US confiscated Iranian oil on a tanker at sea in a sanctions enforcement operation, three sources told Reuters.

According to ship tracking data on Thursday, the tanker was anchored outside the port of Houston.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards Navy commander Alireza Tangsiri said that Tehran would hold Washington responsible for allowing the unloading of the tanker's content without giving further details.

- Iran denies ownership of the oil shipment

In a related development, Iran's oil ministry said the oil cargo of an Iranian-flagged supertanker seized by Indonesia last week does not belong to Tehran, according to state media.

In a statement, the Iranian Oil Ministry did not identify the owner of the cargo of MT Arman 114, an Iranian-flagged supertanker suspected of involvement in the illegal transshipment of crude oil, which Indonesia's coast guard said on July 11 it had seized.

"Published news linking the cargo of this ship to ... Iran have no validity, and this is done to create a negative atmosphere against our country," the oil ministry statement said, without elaborating.

- Tehran Detains a fourth US citizen

Iran arrested a fourth US citizen, which further complicated the efforts of US President Joe Biden's administration to secure an exchange of prisoners and lower tensions with Tehran.

Semafor reported that some sources believe the arrest of the US citizen is now a central part of stepped-up negotiations between the two countries aimed at swapping Iranians detained in Western prisons for US nationals.

The talks, which have taken place in Oman and other countries, also revolve around the US agreeing to green-light the release of billions of dollars of Iran's funds frozen in overseas banks, such as in South Korea.

Iranian officials have publicly hinted for months that a deal with Washington over this exchange is imminent, a position that the Biden administration has disputed.

But people familiar with the case said that now including a fourth US national, whose identity is withheld, could prompt Tehran to up its demands.



FBI Finds 150 Homemade Bombs at Virginia Home in One of Largest Such Seizures

The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seen on the Headquarters in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP)
The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seen on the Headquarters in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP)
TT

FBI Finds 150 Homemade Bombs at Virginia Home in One of Largest Such Seizures

The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seen on the Headquarters in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP)
The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seen on the Headquarters in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP)

Federal agents found one of the largest stockpiles of homemade explosives they have ever seized when they arrested a Virginia man on a firearms charge last month, according to a court filing by federal prosecutors.

Investigators seized more than 150 pipe bombs and other homemade devices when they searched the home of Brad Spafford northwest of Norfolk in December, the prosecutors said in a motion filed Monday. The prosecutors wrote that this is believed to be "the largest seizure by number of finished explosive devices in FBI history."

Most of the bombs were found in a detached garage at the home in Isle of Wight County, along with tools and bomb-making materials including fuses and pieces of plastic pipe, according to court documents. The prosecutors also wrote: "Several additional apparent pipe bombs were found in a backpack in the home’s bedroom, completely unsecured," in the home he shares with his wife and two young children.

Spafford, 36, was charged with possession of a firearm in violation of the National Firearms Act. Law enforcement officers allege he owned an unregistered short barrel rifle. Prosecutors said that he faces "numerous additional potential charges" related to the explosives.

Defense attorneys argued in a motion Tuesday that authorities haven't produced evidence that he was planning violence, also noting that he has no criminal record. Further, they question whether the explosive devices were usable because "professionally trained explosive technicians had to rig the devices to explode them."

"There is not a shred of evidence in the record that Mr. Spafford ever threatened anyone and the contention that someone might be in danger because of their political views and comments is nonsensical," the defense lawyers wrote.

Messages were left Wednesday seeking further comment from the defense lawyers who signed the motion, Lawrence Woodward and Jerry Swartz.

The investigation began in 2023 when an informant told authorities that Spafford was stockpiling weapons and ammunition, according to court documents. The informant, a friend, told authorities Spafford had disfigured his hand in 2021 while working on homemade explosives. Prosecutors said he only has two fingers on his right hand.

The informant told authorities that Spafford was using pictures of the president, an apparent reference to President Joe Biden, for target practice and that "he believed political assassinations should be brought back," prosecutors wrote.

Numerous law enforcement officers and bomb technicians searched the property on Dec. 17. The agents located the rifle and the explosive devices, some of which had been hand-labeled as "lethal" and some of which were loaded into a wearable vest, court documents state. Technicians detonated most of the devices on site because they were deemed unsafe to transport, though several were kept for analysis.

At a hearing Tuesday, federal Magistrate Judge Lawrence Leonard determined that Spafford could be released into house arrest at his mother's home but agreed to keep him detained while the government files further arguments.

In response, prosecutors reiterated why they believe Spafford is dangerous, writing that "while he is not known to have engaged in any apparent violence, he has certainly expressed interest in the same, through his manufacture of pope bombs marked ‘lethal,’ his possession of riot gear and a vest loaded with pipe bombs, his support for political assassinations and use of the pictures of the President for target practice."