Thread by @DavidVidecette

There’s a fair amount of dispute on Twitter as to if this is the Iranian Navy.

I checked the details on the video against the type of boat the US claim was used - an IRGC Gashti-class patrol boat.

https://twitter.com/usnavy/status/1139362655305641984

There’s a lot of features on the boat in the video that match those used by the Iranian navy.

On this basis, it’s difficult to conclude that this is anything other than an Iranian navy boat of the class specified.

They certainly appear to be removing something from the side of the Kokuka Courageous, something large enough to be a limpit mine.

The question is, what was removed and why?

And there’s still conflicting information from crew:

“The vessel’s owner Kokuka Sangyo Co, Yutaka Katada, said: "The crew told us something came flying at the ship, and they found a hole. Then some crew witnessed the second shot."

The length of time between the explosions and the Iranian Navy being video'd by US is also of note:

6:12 am local time Front Altair makes a distress call.
7am local time Kokuka Courageous makes distress call

Both vessels are in the Gulf of Oman 10 nautical miles apart.

USS Bainbridge is 40 nautical miles from Front Altair.

"At 8:09 am local time a US aircraft observed an IRGC Hendijan class patrol boat and IRGC fast attack craft/fast inshore attack craft (FAC/FIAC) in the vicinity of the Front Altair."

This is nearly 2 hours after attack.

"At 9:26 am local time the Iranians request Hyundai Dubai, which had rescued the sailors from the Front Altair, to turn the crew over to the Iranian FIACs. The motor vessel Hyundai Dubai complied with the request and transferred the crew of the Front Altair to the Iranian FIACs."

But then, it's not until 4.10pm local time, over nine hours after the inital distress call, that the US Navy observe the IRGC Gashti Class patrol boat approach the Kokuka Courageous and record what they say is the removal of an unexploded limpet mine.

That's a long time to leave an incriminating piece of evidence that could lead to a war on the side of a ship?

Details of the sequence of events here:

navaltoday.com/2019/06/14/vid…

I don’t speak Japanese, but unless this translation is completely wrong, something seems amiss.

These explosive devices, whatever they were, were used/placed very differently to those on 12 May 2019, which were all below the waterline on ships at anchor. These were moving craft.

To say these two events are identical is intellectually dishonest in my opinion.

There were ten people on that Iranian navy boat, ten...

Why doesn’t the US navy video show what those ten Iranians were doing before they removed the object from the side of the Kokuka Courageous?

Is it normal to send ten men on a tiny boat to remove an armed limpit mine?

I’ve seen suggestions that these ten Iranian men might have boarded the Kokuka Corageous, perhaps to examine it and collect evidence, and that what’s being removed from the side of the ship is a magnetic anchor to secure the Iranian navy to the Kokuka Courageous.

Who knows?

Also worthy of note is the Gashti craft normally has a crew of four, yet there are ten on the boat we see.

Why? I don’t know.

Looking at an old video of Kokuka Courageous there’s a ladder to climb onto the vessel quite close to where the Iranian craft is seen.

Significant?

If you like looking at huge boats, this is right up your street, but it’s also useful footage of what is around the area of the vessel the Iranians were seen.