The Iranian Mystery Ship: Death from the Sea

I have some difficulty accepting this at face value. If we have been made aware of this alleged Iranian action against Israel, then it's certainly no secret. Doesn't matter if it's a successful attack or not...the result would be Iran reduced immediately to a sheet of radioactive glass

We may not like Iran as a state...but they are not suicidal (or moronic). Period. If we can see it...it's meant to be seen. I call shenanigans on this story. False flag to generate an attack on Iran maybe, but again, too clunky for a real operation. More likely complete Bravo Sierra tied into the US elections...a manufactured threat aimed at stupid people.

"P" is for Pirate
"P" is for Propaganda
"P" is for Planet
"P" is for People...,

People who believe Propaganda to the effect that Pirates can make the entire Planet shake and quiver, paralyzed in fear..., because that's what we always do right? Just sit and watch for weeks on end?

By the way..., why aren't they calling these guys "Terrorists"? Hmmm.....

Hey guys, I tried starting a thread about this, but for some reason, nobody looked at it, and the information is somewhat related to the IRAN DEYANAT situation. The whole "nuclear material" and "pirates dying" thing started with this guy that you'll read about below. Now his reporting is getting skewed by rumors and people creating stories.

Dirty bomb?! Are you effing kidding me?? Seriously guys...

Umm, the Iran Deyanat cargo vessel was carrying cargo from China...
so, whatever the cargo is, it came, dun dun dun... from china.


I love how people assume the worst, just because the ship has the name Iran in it... lol. Cargo vessels are international, and as such, they carry cargo from countries other than their birth country.
This one departed from China with it's cargo... not Iran.

So whatever the morons at Fox are trying to piece together as motive, or a dirty plot on Iran's part, they're just worsening relations with China... as it's their cargo. And Fox is unknowingly declaring that China has loaded a dirty nuclear bomb on a cargo ship.

Way to go Fox... you're inability to research the news astounds me.

Pwww.longwarjournal.org...

Hijacked late last month in the Gulf of Aden, the MV Iran Deyanat remains moored offshore in Somali waters and inaccessible for inspection. Its declared cargo consists of minerals and industrial products, however, Somali and regional officials directly involved in the negotiations over the ship and who spoke to The Long War Journal are convinced that it was heading to Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia's Islamist insurgents.
Suspicion has also been cast on the ship's crew, half of which is almost entirely staffed by Iranians - a large percentage of Iranian nationals for a standard merchant vessel. Somali officials say that the ship has a crew of 29 men, including a Pakistani captain, an Iranian engineer, 13 other Iranians, 3 Indians, 2 Filipinos, and 10 Eastern Europeans, possibly Croatian.

and was secured by a larger gang of pirates - 50 onboard and 50 onshore. Within days, pirates who had boarded the ship developed strange health complications, skin burns and loss of hair. Independent sources tell The Long War Journal that a number of pirates have also died. "Yes, some of them have died.

Again, before the conversation gets any further, before propaganda starts spewing, one point has to be re-affirmed.

The MV Iran Deyanat set sail from Nanjing, China... NOT Iran.

So whatever you accuse the ship of carrying, you are in fact accusing the Chinese of placing there.

NOT Iran.


Also, please make sure you do not confuse the MV Iran Deyanat with the Ukrainian vessel carrying T-72 Tanks... these are totally different ships!


Alright, I just wanted to make sure we have this straight before we continue.

News about the illness and the toxic cargo quickly reached Garowe, seat of the government for the autonomous region of Puntland. Angered over the wave of piracy and suspicious about the Iranian ship, authorities dispatched a delegation led by Minister of Minerals and Oil Hassan Allore Osman to investigate the situation on September 4. Osman also confirmed to The Long War Journal that during the six days he negotiated with the pirates members of the syndicate had become sick and died. "That ship is unusual," he said. "It is not carrying a normal shipment."
Iran's involvement in the conflict in Somalia on behalf of Islamist insurgents is well documented. In 2006, Iran flouted arms embargos and provided sophisticated anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons to the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), intelligence sources told The Long War Journal, including SA-7 Strella and SA-18 Igla MANPADS - shoulder fired surface-to-air missiles - as well as AT-3 Sagger antitank missiles.

There is more in this article and it's worth reading. This article hit world wide news.

I find it very interesting that the Somali pirates were provided weapons by the insurgents and then they used them to capture what is likely one of their ships. Obviously this was not supposed to happen and adds to possibility that this is indeed what it appears to be.

Here is another link to the The Times: www.thetimes.co.za...

One from Jihad watch: www.jihadwatch.org...

I hate ( sometimes ) to be so damned cynical... but, if pirates really died / Iranian ship ' fingered ' / headed to Israel...

Then, at least now we know who the Somali pirates are working for.

I wonder if they do ?

A Dirty bomb(s) exploding at or near an Israeli port will have very little destruction capability but unfortunately will give warmongering Israel and USA a REASON TO IMMEDIATELY STRIKE. A false code red!

Given the heap of problems the republicans are facing in this election I would'nt be suprised at all if they cook an excuse to start some fresh conflict. People would forget(at least temporarily) the economy crashing and might even jump start it as WW2 did in the 30's-40's. Desperate people do desperate things. Honestly I can't wait for this administration to leave office. They have been a TOTAL DISASTER not just for the USA but for the entire world. America has been tar and feathered unjustly due to these morons.

Iran on the otherhand has brought this upon itself. Their leader can't keep his mouth shut for even a few weeks. Destroy Israel and down with the USA! This kind of talking is disasterous. Honestly I don't blame Israel for being angry but it seems they keep overreacting to his insane comments. Yes Islamic fundamentalists don't like the west but at the same time they probably know that if they go ahead with their threats that will ultimately mean the end of the once great persian empire. Now that would be truely sad!

Here is a call from Iran to crack down on Somali pirates. Interesting date: September 21, 2008. The Iranian ship was siezed by the pirates on August 21, 2008.

www.tehrantimes.com...

“Failure to seriously respond to these unlawful actions will cause similar problems in other parts of the world and this would not be to the benefit of any country,” said the spokesman.

“The major powers’ negligence in tackling this issue and their efforts to put the blame on others… will intensify the insecurity.”

The MV Iran Deyanat is owned and operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) - a state-owned company run by the Iranian military that was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on September 10, shortly after the ship's hijacking

The syndicate set the ship's ransom at $2 million and the Iranian government provided $200,000 to a local broker "to facilitate the exchange." Iran refutes that it agreed to the price and has paid any money to the pirates. Nevertheless, after sanctions were applied to IRISL on September 10, Osman says, the Iranians told the pirates that the deal was off. "They told the pirates that they could not come because of the presence of the U.S. Navy." The region is patrolled by the multinational Combined Taskforce 150, which includes ships from the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.

In a strange twist, the Iranian press claims that the U.S. has offered to pay a $7 million bribe to the pirates to "receive entry permission and search the vessel."

Notice it was the Iranian Press that said that the U.S. offered to pay $7 Million for the ship.

Who is trying to blame what on who? It seems clear that Russia has taken a part as well. Remember there is an international team there, so it's very unlikely that anyone will get away with hiding anything.

reply to post by johnsky

---

The ship belongs to: The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, a state owned company. Here is another quote:

www.tbrnews.org...

"After September 10th, sanctions on IRISL were applied specifically because the company was said to engaged in illicit operations on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. "

The ship originally left Iran, both the route and the declared cargo was falsified.

China buys her oil from Iran and is very dependant on Iran for that oil. The ships manifest says that she stopped in China for a delivery.

There are a number of articles out there, I've listed some of them. You might want to do a little research.









[edit on 5-10-2008 by ballast]

Where's SORCHA FAAL!!!!!

I think we really need to get his take one this.

reply to post by Phatcat

---

The man was fired because of the Ukranian ship, not the Iranian ship. In addition he was suspected of working with the pirates, during negotiations. This remains to be seen.

The information on the Iranian ship has come from a number of sources. I've posted links.

It remains to be seen what will happen.

Here is a link regarding the Ukranian ship:

www.foxnews.com...

Let's all remember that this is a site to post this type of subject.

Some of you guys are bringing up the same points that were brought up in the previous IRAN DEYNAT thread ... honestly, stop reading what you see in the press and facilitate it as gospel. The WHOLE speculation of the vessel carrying nuclear materials started from Andrew Mwangura (spokesman for the Kenyan Seafarers Assistance Program) in a press release on 11 SEP and you know what? HE WAS JUST ARRESTED FOR MAKING FALSIFIED CLAIMS ABOUT SEVERAL SHIPS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE M/V IRAN DEYANAT and it's "nuclear materials" and "pirates dying after opening cargo" and M/V FAINA with it's "chemical weapons" and "three pirates dying after a shootout onboard". He has been wildly exagerrating claims and falsifying information on these vessels and you know what? He's garnering constant local media attention (Shabelle Radio, Garowe Online) and now it's gone off to international media attention. The original press peice came out 11 SEP ... on 28 SEP is when bigger media snapped up the story and regurgitated it. THE MAN JUST GOT ARRESTED FOR MAKING ALL OF THIS UP!

Guys, believe me if there were ANY indications that the IRAN DEYANAT had that kind of material or were planning to do any of that dirty bomb business, we would definitely have done something by now.

I'm in the Navy stationed in NSA Bahrain right now (you can figure out where I work on your own) and I work with piracy off the HOA everyday and have been since the GOLDEN NORI incident in 2007 ... believe me when I say, we're monitoring all 12 of the currently pirated vessels (YENEGOA OCEAN, GREAT CREATION, GENIUS, STOLT VALOR, IRAN DEYANAT, IRENE, THOR STAR, STELLA MARIS, BRIGHT RUBY, FAINA, CAPTAIN STEFANOS, AND CENTAURI) through our multiple means and ways and there is NO indication that this vessel is carrying that kind of cargo (hell, the ship isn't even high on our priority list right now .... that'd be the FAINA). IF THERE WAS, something would have been done by now, believe me.

Also, DO YOU HONESTLY THINK WE WOULD PAY PIRATES $7 MILLION USD TO HIJACK A SHIP AND INSPECT IT?! NO! That press piece came from Iran ... guess who really doesn't like us right now? Have you thought long and hard? Good job, it's Iran and that press piece is called "PROPOGANDA" .... honestly, some of you guys really need to stop jumping to conclusions without evidence and living by them. If we did that where I work, we'd already be at war with Iran, we would have already done ground operations in Somalia, and my life here would be a living hell (Actively monitoring 12 pirated vessels is already pretty bad haha) ... and no, don't bring up Iraq, because that has nothing to do with any of this

I'm glad to see people asking questions, because being inquisitive is a good thing and it's the make of a good intelligence analyst. But being biased because of whatever political agenda or whatever it is that you want to see, you in fact SEE (OMFG that rock on mars looks like an alien skull ... though in all seriousness, it may be haha) clouds your perception and ultimately skews your judgement of a situation. Don't just look at things at face value ... do your research. I'm sorry if I'm coming off as an a-hole, but when you do this stuff for a living and you know the truth and then you see these kind of blantanly stretched press reports and then people freak out or cry conspiracy, it sucks in a big way, because I work my ass off ... I just want people to realize that. Nothing personal guys

This is a dangerous situation for a number of reasons. And the big ticket item here imo is the symptoms of hair falling out, skin burns and deaths from the pirate inspection of just a bit of the cargo.

If it is a dirty bomb or nuclear waste, it would explain a few things:

1) The deaths/sickness
2) The USA's desire to inspect that cargo, to the point of offering $7 million to do it.
3) The reason that no country's navy can just blown them out of the water, at least not close to port. And I question a decision to blow up that ship anywhere, frankly, because if it IS a bomb or nuclear waste, the environmental consequences are just not worth it, even in open ocean. Currents will disperse that radiation of a very wide area.

But MAN, that ship came from China! So WTF is going on here. The big key is if they find any kind of detonating device. If there is one, then obviously it is a bomb. But that begs the question of who placed it there? The Chinese? The Iranians? And if so also, where exactly was it really headed? Wouldn't someone notice if that ship was traveling all the way around the coast of Africa, up through the Strait of Gibraltar, and into the Mediterranean Sea? I mean hell the US navy is there.

Do Iranian ships usually visit the ports of Israel? I find it hard to believe they would try that, whoever "they" is. My God, Somali pirates may have just averted World War 3. Depending on the size of the detonator and dispersal capability of the bomb, that could have rendered a huge portion if not all of Israel uninhabitable if the ship got within a few miles of the coast. But in that case it would be hard to believe that parts of Egypt and Turkey would not be affected too.

Jesus, that ranks right up there with the Barksdale incident, or much worse if it really is a dirty bomb. Unless someone can come up with a viable explanation for the symptoms of those pirates, my money's on nuclear waste. At least.

Edit to add: Another thing is also the issue of satellite detection of radiation signatures. I have to wonder if they are picking up anything.

[edit on 5-10-2008 by TrueAmerican]

reply to post by friendforafoe

---

This seems to make the most sense to me.

It's a great plotline though!

See my post above ... the ORIGINAL press reporting came out in Somalia on 11 SEP (the vessel was actually located in Caluula, SOM at the time) and then the bigger players of the news world (fox news, cnn, bbc) reported on this again on 28 SEP (the vessel transited to Eyl, SOM since the 11 SEP report) ... the source was Andrew Mwangura who was just arrested in Kenya for falsifying claims about the M/V FAINA and several other ships INCLUDING THE IRAN DEYANAT. The truth of the matter is no pirates died (they're still onboard, trust me) and none got severe skin burns ... ransom negotiations have just hit a stalemate, but they ARE ongoing. Do you have anymore questions .... I'd be happy to answer anybodys to the best of my ability (and what i CAN tell you haha)

Here is a couple of links to the Sanctions imposed against the shipping line:

news.bbc.co.uk...

www.haaretz.com...

www.marinelog.com..."Not only does IRISL facilitate the transport of cargo for U.N. designated proliferators, it also falsifies documents and uses deceptive schemes to shroud its involvement in illicit commerce," said Stuart Levey, U.S.Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. "IRISL's actions are part of a broader pattern of deception and fabrication that Iran uses to advance its nuclear and missile programs. That conduct should give pause to any financial institution or business still choosing to deal with Iran." According to information available to the U.S. government, IRISL also facilitates shipments of military-related cargo destined for Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and its subordinate entities, including organizations that have been designated by the United States pursuant to E.O. 13382 and listed by United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1737 and 1747.

There are more articles listed under Tehran Times, but their entire website is down now. I'll try to get more on it later. Best to get both sides of the story.

reply to post by friendforafoe

---

Well great then, glad to hear it's fabrication.

I hope. But also beware that if it really is nuclear related cargo, just because you are stationed in the area, does not necessarily mean that you would be informed of this, pending high level decision of exactly what to do.

So yeah I got a question. If it's not nuclear cargo, then why hasn't some navy either stormed that ship and killed the pirates or blown the thing sky high? I find it hard to believe that international navies are just going to hand them the money, and watch with a salute as they sail right out of town with the money.