Mercer Street, an Israeli-operated ship, was attacked on July 30 near the coast of Oman. The attack led to the death of a British and a Romanian citizen.
The European Union, which has been silent on repeated attacks and piratical measures against Iran’s ship, including attacks in the Red Sea and seizure in Gibraltar, this time followed suit after the Israeli regime accused Iran of being behind the incident in the Oman Sea.
The Israeli regime itself joined the pirates club by attacking the aid fleet some ten years ago, targeting the ships boarding international activists and humanitarian aid to Gaza Strip in the Mediterranean international waters.
The regime has continued to perform piratical acts attacking Iran’s ships, including Iran Shahr-e Kord in the Mediterranean and several Iranian tankers in the Red Sea.
Overall, 12 Iranian vessels have fallen victims to terrorist attacks 14 times and the officials of the Israeli regime have clearly taken responsibility for the attacks in some cases.
International law acknowledges the freedom of navigation in different conventions, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which recognizes freedom of navigation, flight over the seas, installing submarine pipelines and cables, constructing certain types of artificial islands, fishing and scientific study.
Iran, as a coastal country that has the Caspian Sea on the north and the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean on the south, has signed the convention, but it has yet to formally join it. However, Iran has always been in compliance with principles like freedom of navigation.
In recent years, Iranian ships have been repeatedly targeted by attacks and piracies which obviously constitute a sheer violation of the principle of freedom of navigation.
Article 101 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea defines piracy as:
Any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;
(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;
(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).
The Islamic Republic of Iran has leveraged its military capability in line with this definition to fight piracy in waterways off the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden and has clearly informed the UN of its intention.
Taking these facts into consideration, the West should take a more realistic position in the international arena based on documents and avoid media propaganda and double standards, instead of making unfounded accusations.
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