Industry Odisha Bureu, June 29: Even though all had heaved a sigh of relief soon after the much-awaited US-Iran peace deal was formally inked on June 17, the reported dispute over ‘Article 5’ of the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has once again trigerred a fresh tug of war resulting in attacks on commercial vessels allegedly from Iran’s side followed by US strikes on Iran’s military sites in retaliation, while Iran’s tit for tat stance by hitting US military bases in the Gulf.
The provision in the ‘Article 5’ of the MoU signed between the USA and Iran reportedly focuses: “The Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge, for 60 days only, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa.”
The provision in the MoU’s ‘Article 5’ reportedly adds: “The traffic of commercial vessels will immediately start, and considering the need for removing the technical and military obstacles, and demining by the Islamic Republic of Iran will be instated within 30 days.”
The provision in the ‘Article 5’ of the MoU also reportedly underlines: “The Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct dialog with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz in discussion with other Persian Gulf littoral states in line with the applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.”
However, the high-profile agreement, especially its ‘Article 5’, has reportedly resulted in disagreement, dubbed to be much ado about nothing, since Iran reportedly “insists that the commercial vessels should use a northern shipping corridor close to the Iranian coast, and has opposed attempts to establish alternative transit routes nearer Oman.”
In his reactions, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has reportedly said, “Any attempt to adopt new or separate arrangements compared to what is underway by the Islamic Republic of Iran, will only lead to more complicated situations and delays in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and will increase the tensions,” adding, “I urge all parties… to adhere to the memorandum of understanding and not to allow this MoU to deviate from its course.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has reportedly reiterated that the Article 5 of the MoU places responsibility for managing the Strait of Hormuz solely with Iran.
In his words as have been reported, “This responsibility rests on the Islamic Republic of Iran. There is no other party or state in this respect. This is totally clear under the memorandum of understanding, and any intervention or any unilateral action will result in exacerbating the situation and also delay the reopening of the strait.”
The situation got escalated and tensions once again flared up when “a Singapore-flagged commercial vessel was allegedly targeted from the Iranian side reportedly on June 26 followed by yet another attack on a Panama-flagged commercial vessel on the very next day.”
On the one hand, an irked USA reportedly “bombed Iranian military sites blaming Iran for such an objectionable stand”, while on the other hand, an enraged Iran reportedly “denied the accusation levelled against it by the USA, and in retaliation targetted US military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain in the Gulf.”
Basing on the disputed provision of ‘Article 5’ of the US-Iran-inked MoU, the Iranian Armed Forces, known as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), has reportedly been harping on the same string that, “only the northern shipping corridor through the Iranian waters in the Strait of Hormuz has been authorised.”
Soon after the US-Iran peace deal came into effect, the erstwhile stranded commercial vessels reportedly “set sail using the southern side of the waterway along the Oman’s coast instead of the northern route preferred by Iran” that reportedly ignited the ire of Iran since it has been given the sole responsibility of reopening the Strait of Hormuz as per the controversial ‘Article 5’ of the signed MoU between the USA.
