The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), one of the world’s largest shipping organizations, warned on Sunday that threats to commercial vessels around the Arabian Peninsula are growing after U.S. airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear weapons program. BIMCO head of security Jakob Larsen said the Iranians might try to get revenge for the airstrikes by attacking American warships in the region, or civilian vessels affiliated with either the U.S. or Israel, either directly or through their terrorist proxies.
“The Houthi threat against shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has also gone up. The Houthis now threaten merchant ships with affiliation to Israel or the U.S., but attacks against merchant ships with other affiliations cannot be ruled out,” he said.
Larsen said the Iranians could attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz with drones and missiles, and could also attempt laying mines in that vital sea passage. Mines would be more difficult to counter than shooting down Iranian aircraft, intercepting anti-ship missiles, or sinking an Iranian naval blockade, but they would carry “the risk to Iran-affiliated commercial ships and the risk of environmental disaster in case a ship is damaged.”
“Given the Iranian threat to U.S. military bases in the region, availability of warships for protection of commercial shipping is probably limited, especially for commercial ships with no affiliation to the U.S. or Israel,” Larsen added. (Read More)
