Friday, October 17, 2008

The Iranian Death Ship

This story is an example of the Demonic Convergence in action: nuclear weapons, the Iranian effort to destroy Israel, Chinese complicity in international terrorism, and the Somali pirates, all rolled into one.

Remember the Iranian ship that was hijacked off the coast of Somalia a few weeks ago? Pirates who came into contact with the unidentified cargo of the ship became seriously ill, and since then sixteen of them have died of what appears to be radiation poisoning.

Now an account of what happened has been patched together: the Iranian ship was loaded with radioactive sand from China, and was en route to the Suez Canal and then the Mediterranean. The goal was to blow it up off the coast of Israel and send a lethal radioactive cloud over the Jewish state during Yom Kippur. Had it not been for the Somali free-lancers, there’s no telling what might have happened.

Here’s the account from Shirat Devorah, via Pat Dollard:

Hijacked Iranian Ship was a Dirty Bomb Meant for Israel on Yom Kippur

On August 21st, 2008, the MV Iran Deyant, 44,458 dead weight bulk carrier was heading towards the Suez Canal. As it was passing the Horn of Africa, about 80 miles southeast of al-Makalla in Yemen, the ship was surrounded by speedboats filled with members of a gang of Somalian pirates who grab suitable commercial ships and hold them and their cargos and crews for ransom. The captain was defenseless against the 40 pirates armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades blocking his passage. He had little choice other than to turn his ship over to them. What the pirates were not banking on, however, was that this was no ordinary ship.

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.

According to the U.S. Government, the company regularly falsifies shipping documents in order to hide the identity of end users, uses generic terms to describe shipments to avoid the attention of shipping authorities, and employs the use of cover entities to circumvent United Nations sanctions to facilitate weapons proliferation for the Iranian Ministry of Defense. The MV Iran Deyanat departed Nanjing, China, July 28, and, according to its manifest, planned to sail to Rotterdam, where it would offload 42,500 tons of iron ore and “industrial products” purchased by an unidentified “ German client”. 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, stated to be Albanians.

The MV Iran Deyanat was brought to Eyl, a sleepy fishing village in northeastern Somalia, and was secured by a larger gang of pirates — 50 onboard and 50 onshore. The Somali pirates attempted to inspect the ship’s seven cargo containers but the containers were locked. The crew claimed that they did not have the “access codes” and could not open them. Pirates have stated they were unable to open the hold without causing extensive damage to the ship, and threatened to blow it up. The Iranian ship’s captain and the engineer were contacted by cell phone and demanded to disclose the actual nature of the mysterious “powdered cargo” but the captain and his officers were very evasive. Initially they said that the cargo contained “crude oil” but then claimed it contained “minerals.” Following this initial rebuff, the pirates broke open one of the containers and discovered it to be filled with packets of what they said was “a powdery fine sandy soil”…

Within a period of three days, those pirates who had boarded the ship and opened the cargo container with its gritty sand-like contents, all developed strange health complications, to include serious skin burns and loss of hair. And within two weeks, sixteen of the pirates subsequently died, either on the ship or on shore.

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. and they witnessed some of the deaths due to exposure to ‘something on that ship.’

The Somali pirates initially set the ship’s ransom at $2 million and the Iranian government provided $200,000 to a local broker “to facilitate the exchange.” The $2 million dollar ransom agreement, which was supposedly secured on September 6th, never took place for reasons unknown. 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.

Serious negotiations were broken off completely. Iranian authorities subsequently denied that it agreed to the price nor had 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. Subsequently, it was disclosed that the U.S. government had offered to pay $7 million to the pirates to “receive entry permission and search the vessel.” Officials in the Pentagon and the Department of State have consistently refused to comment on the situation.

The exact nature of the cargo remains officially a mystery but officials in Puntland and Baidoa are convinced the ship was carrying weapons to Eritrea for Islamist insurgents. “We cannot inspect the cargo yet,” Osman said, “but we are sure that it is weapons.”

The article goes on to say that warships from Russia, the USA, France, and other countries are waiting off the coast of Somalia to make sure that the ship doesn’t resume its travels without a close inspection.

Russian intelligence does not believe that the ship was bound for Eritrea, however:
- - - - - - - - -
Although American intelligence and government sources are maintaining a strictly observed silence, the same does not apply to the Russians and so it is that we learn the real story of the MV Iran Deyanat. She was an enormous floating dirty bomb, intended to detonate after exiting the Suez Canal at the eastern end of the Mediterranean and in proximity to the coastal cities of Israel. The entire cargo of radioactive sand, obtained by Iran from China (the latter buys desperately needed oil from the former) and sealed in containers which, when the charges on the ship are set off after the crew took to the boats, will be blasted high into the air where prevailing winds will push the highly dangerous and radioactive cloud ashore.

Given the large number of deaths from the questing Somali pirates, it should be obvious that when the contents of the ship’s locked cargo containers finally descended onto the land, the death toll would be enormous. This ship was nothing more nor less than the long-anticipated Iranian attack on Israel. Not the expected rocket attacks (which could be intercepted by the Israelis) but an even more deadly and unexpected attack by sea. It is very interesting to note that the Israeli government has in the past few weeks, been loudly demanding that the United States establish a naval blockade of Iran.

If all this is true, Israel (and the rest of the West) has been extremely lucky so far. One of these days our luck is going to run out, however, and a murderous plan like this one will be successfully executed.


The Shirat Devorah article was written by Brian Harring.

25 comments:

ɱØяñιηg$ʇðя ©™ said...

Luckily this evil plot was thwarted - at least this time. No doubt they will try again. All the dhimmi explanations about Ahmadinejad has being misinterpreted about "whiping Israel off the map" now sounds even more hollow than before. Now it has been exposed for what it really is - taqyyia. I wouldn't shed any tears if Israel decided to retaliate by instead whiping Iran off the map. This is nothing less than a clash between two different civilisations. I would prefer, as most westerners to keep on living in peace minding our own business. Unfortunately the muslims won't let this happen. They're aggressive and hellbent on forcing europe and US into submission. If we in the west just keep on waiting, sooner or later they will succeed in blowing up their dirty bombs either in Israel or europe and US. With these deadly threats against our civilisations I rather see Iran go up in flames than any of us. I'm not particularly bloodthirsty, not even close compared to the jihadists but it's us or them, simple as that.

Abraham said...

As with many Islamic endeavors it is jarring and disturbing, but not suprising.

If the West maintains its passivity towards Iran the outcome will be decisively influenced by what kind of first-blow Iran lands. Like al-Qaeda they might put their thirst for immediate bloodshed ahead of their long-term strategic interests. "Hopefully" their first blow would be something like this ship, allowing for an overwhelming strike by the West before they possess a fully-fledge nuclear warhead.

Chilling story.

Afonso Henriques said...

"If all this is true..."

It did not convinced me.

Sam Grant said...

IF all this is true. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. What proof do we have that the ship was not carrying some sort of toxic industrial chemical? [And most industrial chemicals are toxic.] Chemotherapy side effects resemble radiation poisoning, after all.

What proof do we have that the ship has quantities of radioactive materials sufficient to make masses of people sick, if the material were dispersed from an offshore explosion? A few pounds of radioactive cesium, for instance, would be quite sufficient to kill pirates who worked at opening a particular container, but far too little to ravage a city.

The analysis in the article is highly speculative.

Anonymous said...

DOH!

George Bruce said...

I remain unconvinced of the accuracy of this report.

Jimmy the Dhimmi said...

I don't buy it. Iran would have to complete its nuclear weapons program before trying anything this obvious, and a huge number of Egyptians and Palestinians would be affected. Muslims hate it when other Muslims are victims of terrorism.

There is no way Iran would recover from the global response, including all of the Sunni Arab states who would welcome the hell reigned down upon Tehran

Fortress said...

The only way anyone will ever be convinced is if it does happen and thousands if not millions die. I'm not sure if that makes the entire argument a moot point, but that's truly the only way any convincing will be done in any logical sense of the word. Too bad for all those people that are going to die in order to do that convincing. Given Iran's stance on Israel, it's not surprising they'd try this, so I'm inclined to believe it was indeed powdered uranium or some such.

As for the rest, I find I'm laughing my kiester off. Muslim pirates thwarting a muslim attack on Israel and dying later for it...quite painfully most likely. If indeed there is a karma, it was quite well served this day.

Anonymous said...

J the D,

"Muslims hate it when other Muslims are victims of terrorism."

Hundreds of Muslim attacks show they could care less about other Muslims getting killed. Especially they aren't of the same sub-cult.

"There is no way Iran would recover from the global response..."

Same was said pre-9/11 of anyone who dares attack American soil. Yet Saudi Arabia, home of most of the attackers stands proud and stronger than ever.

Anything is possible.

spackle said...

"The MV Iran Deyanat was brought to Eyl, a sleepy fishing village in northeastern Somalia,"

Maine has "sleepy fishing villages". So does Italy and Greece but Somalia!? I am sorry but that is just hilarious. They most likely sleep the sleep of the dead.

Afonso Henriques said...

"The only way anyone will ever be convinced is if it does happen and thousands if not millions die. I'm not sure if that makes the entire argument a moot point..."

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

Thanks, Sam.

Henrik R Clausen said...

There is no way Iran would recover from the global response.

Their government is Islamic, and radically so. They don't *care* about global response (which is usually rather tepid anyway). Instead they believe that the 12th Imam will arrive and fix all of their problems for them.

The only silver lining of this story, assuming it's true, is that the Iranian government must have spent a lot of money setting up this plot.

Henrik R Clausen said...

Regarding the credibility of the story, I'm finding myself in sortof a middle position:

I do find the story credible.

On the other hand, I do not find enough external references to support the details, and for that reason I am not promoting the story as I otherwise would have. Logically, I've written to the author asking for the links to be found.

Reassuringly, the ship has been released :(

Henrik R Clausen said...

As for why I find the story credible, the official bulletins from PressTV, which is an Iranian state news agency, gives some subtle clues. Here's the report that the ship has been released.

What is pecular is their superficial mention of the actual cargo. 'Minerals and industrial products' is a very broad term that could easily cover up uranium and other radioactive material. If they had nothing to hide about the nature of the cargo, they would be much more specific.

Further, the article tries to divert attention to what is supposed to be the main subject, the Iranian ship, and instead moves on to point fingers at the Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks.

Pere Ubu said...

Until further notice, regardless of the fact that pirates and other criminals are known for their absolute adherence to the truth, I'm still sticking by my original evaluation: it was fuel for Shahab missiles.

The Iranian missile, the Shahab, uses a fuel mixture of nitric acid and a chemical called UDMH, which is a derivative of the classic rocket fuel hydrazine. All three chemicals, nitric acid, UDMH, and hydrazine, are highly toxic and damaging to human skin.

My guess? The pirates got into a shipment of either nitric acid or UDMH, not knowing what they were dealing with, and ended up badly burned. End of story, no speculation about secret shipments of radioactive materials necessary.

salvage said...

You are very smart.

Woody (Tokin Librul/Rogue Scholar/ Helluvafella!) said...

Oh, noez!!!

Quickly, bomb Iran!!!

Anonymous said...

Woody, do you have any more intelligent responses to offer, or is cheap sarcasm all you're capable of?

Henrik R Clausen said...

Pere Ubu, that is actually a very plausible explanation. I'll rate it higher than the 'dirty bomb' theory, unless other evidence comes along.

I'd love to see someone just ignite the shit :)

One_of_the_last_few_Patriots_left said...

Henrik R. Clausen wrote:

"I'd love to see someone just ignite the shit:)"

Actually, Henrik, if I remember my Rocket Science 101 (My older brother was, in fact, a REAL "rocket scientist.") hydrazine and nitric acid are HYPERGOLIC propellants; that is, they ignite spontaneoulsy on contact with no external ignition source needed.
If the stupid pirates had been a little more careless about opening containers.......

Henrik R Clausen said...

Hypergolic (Wikipedia is great for some things) makes sense.

Anyway, I'm quite suspicious still, not least due to the lack of detail we get from either side in the case. As far as I know, the US Navy has taken control of the ship, which was sailed to Muscat by an American crew for further examinations.

Expecting full disclosure from our governments and/or media on this is probably silly. Strange. I think a story like this deserves it. Unless you're in the Iranian camp, of course...

Anonymous said...

Except for the parts that are utterly devoid of fact or commonsense (i.e., the entire posting and most of the comments), this is TERRIFYING!! Those evil islamoramolamodingdongfascists! Using sand. Because, obviously, someone once called them sand niggers.

I echo many with a lick of intelligence when I say: "OHNOEZ!!" Seriously, Baron, get a grip. Yes, we have enemies. No, they're not hiding under our beds.

Vladtepesblog.com said...

First I would like to deal with a point of logic. The following is entirely inaccurate.
Sam Grant said...

IF all this is true. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

No. The standard for evidence is the same for all claims. For Bertrand Russel's tea pot as it is for Thor or Zeus. Rules for evidence remain consistent. Having said this, this story seems to match some facts in evidence but Russian media tends to be not just a poor source of information but one useful in its predictable propaganda aspects. I doubt it would surprise any readers here if Iran did do this. But one would imagine US satellites are capable of detecting large amounts of radiologicals. This begs many questions. Could the Somali pirates (if this story is true) have acted for western interests as a proxy navy to avoid direct US Iranian conflict? Stranger things happen every year.
I would want a lot more data and confirmation of course before feeling certain of this story, not because it requires more than a simple claim but because I like most of us so desperately want this not to be true. Because its outside of our frames of reference does not make it inconsistent with a hundred speeches by Iran's president.

OBloodyHell said...

I'm waiting for a "reliable" news source to repeat it. Until then, I'm classifying it under "possible" and "alleged".

All a search shows at this point are other blogs. Nothing personal to any of the blogs, but none of them, save maybe Michael Yon and Michael Fumento, do I classify as a first-order news source.

;-)

Henrik R Clausen said...

Agreed, OBH. I have actually received more details, but no references to back them up, and I'm letting the matter rest.