Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani together with Russia’s Vladimir Putin attend a joint news conference following their meeting in Sochi, Russia November 22, 2017 . (photo credit: SPUTNIK/MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/KREMLIN VIA REUTERS)
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MI6 and GCHQ are investigating the possibility that Iran used Russian GPS “spoofing” technology that produces incorrect location data to send the British-flagged Stena Impero off course into Iranian waters before it was seized by IRGC forces, according to British media sources.
“Russia has the technology to spoof GPS and may have helped Iran in this venture as it was extremely brazen,” said an anonymous security source in a report published by the Daily Mail. “It would make British shipping extremely vulnerable and will be of grave concern to Royal Navy warships in the region.”
Iran’s Fars news agency said the IRGC had taken control of the Stena Impero on Friday after it collided with an Iranian fishing boat whose distress call it ignored.
The vessel, carrying no cargo, was taken to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. It would remain there with its 23 crew — 18 of them Indians — while the accident was investigated, Iranian news agencies quoted the head of Ports and Maritime Organisation in southern Hormozgan province, Allahmorad Afifipour, as saying.
The Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and the Arabian peninsula, is the sole outlet for exports of most Middle Eastern oil, and the seizure sent oil prices sharply higher. The United States, which tightened sanctions against Iran in May with the aim of halting its oil exports altogether, has been warning for months of an Iranian threat to shipping in the strait.
In June, the Israeli Airports Authority announced that pilots were having difficulty landing, experiencing mysterious disruptions.
Senior Israeli officials said that they believe that Russia had been disrupting civilian aircraft navigation systems, according to reports. Army Radio called the move a “hostile attack.”
According to the Israeli Airline Pilots Association, the GPS issues were part of a “spoofing” attack, causing receivers on planes to sometimes report their location as miles away from their actual location, reported CNN.
A report by the US Center for Advanced Defense Studies in April documented over 10,000 separate incidents of GPS disruption connected to Russia, adding that the country was “pioneering” the technique to “protect and promote its strategic interests.”
Russia has denied the report.
To resolve the issue, Israel sent a defense official to Russia to discuss the disruption, Army Radio reported.
Reuters and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
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