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UK Warns of Iranian Attempts to Bring Ships into its Waters

Illustrative: The oil tanker Mercer Street, which came under attack last week off Oman, is seen moored off Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021 (AP)
Illustrative: The oil tanker Mercer Street, which came under attack last week off Oman, is seen moored off Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021 (AP)
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UK Warns of Iranian Attempts to Bring Ships into its Waters

Illustrative: The oil tanker Mercer Street, which came under attack last week off Oman, is seen moored off Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021 (AP)
Illustrative: The oil tanker Mercer Street, which came under attack last week off Oman, is seen moored off Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021 (AP)

A warning has gone out to seafarers in the Arabian Gulf over what appear to be attempts by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to compel ships to enter Iranian waters.

A notice from the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center on Friday said that there had been “several incidents involving VHF radio challenges to vessels.”

“It is assessed that these are most likely part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ large-scale exercise, Great Prophet XVIII,” the UKMTO said.

Iran has been engaged in an extraordinary two-month-long military exercise across the country after being twice hit by Israel in retaliation for attacks against it during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

While Iran has a history of harassing and impounding vessels, it hasn’t directly launched many such attacks recently. Instead, the Iran-backed Houthi group have been attacking ships since November 2023, a campaign that now appears to be winding down after the ceasefire in Gaza.

Iranian media reported a likely Guard exercise in the Arabian Gulf coming this weekend as well.

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China Holds Large-scale Military Drills around Taiwan

TOPSHOT - This handout photo taken on March 31, 2025 and released by the Taiwan Defense Ministry on April 1, 2025 shows the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong sailing in waters off Taiwan. (Photo by Handout / TAIWAN DEFENSE MINISTRY / AFP)
TOPSHOT - This handout photo taken on March 31, 2025 and released by the Taiwan Defense Ministry on April 1, 2025 shows the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong sailing in waters off Taiwan. (Photo by Handout / TAIWAN DEFENSE MINISTRY / AFP)
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China Holds Large-scale Military Drills around Taiwan

TOPSHOT - This handout photo taken on March 31, 2025 and released by the Taiwan Defense Ministry on April 1, 2025 shows the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong sailing in waters off Taiwan. (Photo by Handout / TAIWAN DEFENSE MINISTRY / AFP)
TOPSHOT - This handout photo taken on March 31, 2025 and released by the Taiwan Defense Ministry on April 1, 2025 shows the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong sailing in waters off Taiwan. (Photo by Handout / TAIWAN DEFENSE MINISTRY / AFP)

China on Tuesday sent its army, navy, air and rocket forces to surround Taiwan for large-scale drills Beijing said were aimed at practicing a blockade of the self-ruled island.
Taiwan dispatched its own aircraft and ships, and deployed land-based missile systems, in response to the exercises and accused Beijing of being the world's "biggest troublemaker".
The drills come after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday in Japan that the United States would ensure "credible deterrence" across the Taiwan Strait.
China insists democratic Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.
Beijing has increased the deployment of fighter jets and naval vessels around Taiwan in recent years to press its claim of sovereignty, which Taipei rejects.
China had deployed 19 warships around the island in the 24-hours to 6:00 am (2200 GMT Monday), including the Shandong aircraft carrier group, Taiwan's defense ministry said.
That was the most recorded since May last year when 27 navy vessels were reported, according to an AFP tally of the ministry's daily figures.
Tensions across the 180-kilometer (112-mile) Taiwan Strait have escalated since Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te took office in May 2024.
Chinese leaders loathe Lai, who has been more outspoken than his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen in defending Taiwan's sovereignty.
Lai last month called China a "foreign hostile force" and proposed measures to combat growing Chinese espionage and infiltration.
Tuesday's exercises were aimed at sending a "stern warning and forceful deterrence" to alleged separatists in Taiwan, Beijing said.
They involved "sea-air combat-readiness patrols, joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, assault on maritime and ground targets, and blockade on key areas and sea lanes", said Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesman of the Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command.
Beijing's armed forces "close in on Taiwan Island from multiple directions", he said.
The Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command -- which oversees operations along the Taiwan Strait -- shared a graphic with the title "closing in".
Another graphic shared by the military depicted Lai as an insect being roasted over an open fire.
And a video shared by the military on X-like Weibo showed footage of weapons interspersed with animations of Sun Wukong, the legendary Monkey King from the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West".
The video climaxes with Chinese forces appearing to use satellites to mark targets across Taiwan, before ending with a flurry of rocket explosions while multiple Monkey Kings attack a giant frog monster.
China's coast guard said it also conducted "law enforcement patrols" around the island.
"Pursuing 'Taiwan independence' means pushing the people of Taiwan into a dangerous situation of war," Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office, said.
Taiwan's Presidential Office condemned "China's escalatory behavior", and Premier Cho Jung-tai said "resorting to displays of military force is not what modern, progressive societies should pursue".
Potential flashpoint
China has carried out multiple large-scale exercises around the island in recent years, often described as rehearsals for a blockade and seizure of the territory.
Analysts have speculated that China was more likely to attempt a blockade of Taiwan than launch an all-out invasion, which was riskier and would require a huge military deployment.
Taipei military expert Su Tzu-yun told AFP the drills appeared to be of similar size to the "Joint Sword" exercises in May and October.
Holding drills straight after Hegseth's visit to the region showed China was testing the Trump administration, said Lin Ying-yu of Tamkang University.
"China wants to test the US's bottom line ahead of a Trump-Xi summit through military exercises," Lin told AFP.
Taiwan -- a powerhouse in semiconductor chip manufacturing -- is a potential flashpoint for conflict between China and the United States, which is the island's most important security partner.
While the United States is legally bound to provide arms to Taiwan, Washington has long maintained "strategic ambiguity" when it comes to whether it would deploy its military to defend the island from a Chinese attack.
There have been concerns about US President Donald Trump's willingness to protect Taiwan.
Trump said last month that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be "catastrophic", as the island's chipmaking titan TSMC announced a $100 billion investment in the United States.
The dispute between China and Taiwan dates back to 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang nationalist forces fled to Taiwan after losing the Chinese civil war with Mao Zedong's communist fighters.
Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign country, but has stopped short of declaring formal independence, which is a red line for Beijing.
Only 11 countries and the Vatican recognize Taiwan's claim to statehood.