analysis Asia<\/p>\n
Sinking of Iran warship: 5 questions on US strike and whether\nSoutheast Asia should be concerned<\/p>\n
The shadow fleet of tankers carrying sanctioned Iranian oil and\noperating off the coasts of Singapore and Malaysia could become targets\nof the US and other actors as part of the Middle East war, say\nanalysts.<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR: The United States\u2019 sinking of a \u201cprize\u201d Iran warship\noff the coast of Sri Lanka suggests tankers carrying sanctioned Iranian\noil that sail through busy Southeast Asian waters may not be safe\neither, analysts say.<\/p>\n
While Iranian warships do not make frequent visits to the region,\nactors looking to disrupt Iran\u2019s income sources could target and destroy\nthis \u201cshadow fleet\u201d of tankers instead, potentially creating\nenvironmental disasters and tension with coastal states in the\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the experts add.<\/p>\n
For instance, the US could target commercial tankers in a military\noperation if Washington declares they are not being used for commercial\npurposes but are believed to be serving Iran\u2019s military aims\ninstead.<\/p>\n
CNA reported last December that wars in Ukraine and the Middle East\nhave pushed more of these shadow fleets of tankers into the region,\naccording to observers. These ships carry oil from sanctioned Iran,\nRussia and Venezuela and transfer cargoes in the Singapore Strait to\navoid detection.<\/p>\n
They often use stolen identities and other tactics to hide their\nactivities and evade scrutiny. Some may repaint their hulls, change\nflags and adopt new names to imitate legitimate ships and blend into\nsurrounding traffic.<\/p>\n
In 2023, Indonesia seized an Iranian-flagged supertanker suspected of\nbeing involved in the illegal transshipment of crude oil, after it\nspoofed its automatic identification system to show its position was in\nthe Red Sea instead of in Indonesia\u2019s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).<\/p>\n
According to experts, the US could also lawfully target Iran-linked\nmerchant ships far beyond the Middle East combat theatre, if it can\nprove these vessels were being used for military purposes.<\/p>\n
On Mar 4, a US submarine torpedoed the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena,\nwith about 130 sailors on board, around 20 nautical miles off Sri\nLanka\u2019s southern coast. At least 87 crew members were killed, said\nofficials from Sri Lanka, which conducted a rescue operation.<\/p>\n
Iran said on Mar 8 that 104 crew members were killed and 32 others\ninjured.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was\nsafe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo,\u201d US\nSecretary of War Pete Hegseth told reporters in Washington, calling the\ntarget Tehran\u2019s \u201cprize ship\u201d.<\/p>\n
The incident marked a dramatic expansion of the war and raised\nquestions about the legitimacy of such a strike, including how it has\nimpacted coastal states\u2019 authority in their own backyard.<\/p>\n
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines\na state\u2019s territorial waters as extending up to 12 nautical miles\n(22.2km) from its baseline, with its EEZ extending up to 200 nautical\nmiles immediately offshore.<\/p>\n
While coastal states have resource rights in their EEZs, other states\nretain navigational freedoms. This means coastal states are not allowed\nto block Iranian or US ships from passing through.<\/p>\n
If the Middle East conflict spreads to live strikes in the waters of\nSoutheast Asia, regional bloc ASEAN could issue a statement condemning\nthe move depending on where exactly it took place, although not much\nmore especially if a major power like the US is involved, the analysts\ntold CNA.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing the US Navy submarine sinking of IRIS Dena, it\u2019s clear by\nnow that the conflict zone can potentially widen,\u201d said Collin Koh, a\nsenior fellow at Singapore\u2019s S Rajaratnam School of International\nStudies (RSIS).<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the incident could take place in the Indian Ocean, and off Sri\nLanka, it could definitely have the potential to replicate\nelsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here are five questions related to the US strike, and whether\nSoutheast Asia should be concerned.<\/p>\n
Was the US strike on Iran\u2019s warship near Sri Lanka legal?<\/p>\n
Under the law of armed conflict, warships belonging to a state\nengaged in an international armed conflict are military objectives and\nmay be lawfully targeted.<\/p>\n
According to the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to\nArmed Conflicts at Sea, the area of naval hostilities could be conducted\nwell beyond the waters of the belligerent parties, including in the high\nseas as well as neutral states\u2019 EEZs and continental shelves, Koh\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The San Remo manual\u2019s description of rules is widely recognised by\nlegal scholars and states as an authoritative restatement of existing\ncustomary international law, including the law of armed conflict.<\/p>\n
The Indian Navy has said that the sinking of the IRIS Dena took place\nabout 20 nautical miles off Galle on the south coast of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n
IRIS Dena was one of three Iranian warships that had participated in\na military exercise hosted by India between Feb 15 and Feb 21 in the\ncoastal city of Visakhapatnam.<\/p>\n
The Mar 4 torpedo attack places the warship outside Sri Lankan\nterritorial sea, where \u201cother user states could exercise freedom of\nnavigation and as far as Washington is concerned, it includes the\nconduct of military activities\u201d, Koh said.<\/p>\n
Can the US conduct strikes in another state\u2019s territorial waters?<\/p>\n
However, Koh highlighted that the San Remo manual forbids hostilities\nin a neutral state\u2019s territorial sea, and where applicable, archipelagic\nwaters.<\/p>\n
In this case, Indonesia is of \u201chuge interest and relevance\u201d since it\nis an archipelagic state as defined by UNCLOS, he said.<\/p>\n
Under UNCLOS, an archipelagic state, or one composed entirely of\nislands, can draw straight baselines connecting the outermost points of\nits islands, designating the enclosed waters as archipelagic waters.<\/p>\n
Within these waters, the state exercises sovereignty, subject to\nrights of innocent passage and archipelagic sea lanes passage for\nforeign vessels.<\/p>\n
In fact, the Iranian Navy ship that was su<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sinking-of-iran-warship-five-questions-on-us-strike-and-whether-southeast-asia-should-be-concerned-1773960641", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }