Iran on Saturday confirmed the seizure of a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker because it traveled by way of the slender Strait of Hormuz over violations, together with carrying an unlawful consignment, state media reported.
It mentioned the seizure got here following a courtroom order and the operation was aimed toward “protecting Iran’s national interests and resources.” It recognized the oil tanker because the Talara and mentioned it was carrying 30,000 tons of petrochemical merchandise.
The seizure occurred on Friday. Tehran has been more and more warning it might strike again after a 12-day warfare with Israel in June that noticed the U.S. strike Iranian nuclear websites.
On this Jan. 19, 2012 file photograph, a aircraft flies over the mountains of northern Oman as buying and selling vessels are seen within the Strait of Hormuz, close to the city of Khasab, Oman.
AP
It mentioned the ship had been en path to Singapore when Iranian forces intercepted. A non-public safety agency, Ambrey, described the assault as involving three small boats.
A U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton drone had been circling above the realm the place the Talara was for hours on Friday, observing the seizure, flight-tracking information analyzed by The Related Press confirmed.
The British army’s United Kingdom Maritime Commerce Operations heart individually acknowledged the incident, saying a doable “state activity” compelled the Talara to show into Iranian territorial waters.
Cyprus-based Columbia Shipmanagement later mentioned in a press release that it had “lost contact” with the tanker, which was carrying excessive sulphur gasoil. It didn’t instantly present any replace on Saturday.
Iran has been blamed for a collection of limpet mine assaults on vessels that broken tankers in 2019, in addition to for a drone assault on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021. These assaults started after U.S. President Trump, in his first time period in workplace, unilaterally withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear cope with world powers.
Map displaying the Strait of Hormuz and its function in transporting oil and liquified pure fuel (LNG) within the Center East to international markets by way of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Murat Usubali/Anadolu by way of Getty Pictures
In 2022, Iran took two Greek tankers and held them till November of that yr. Iran seized the Portuguese-flagged cargo ship MSC Aries in April 2024.
Years of tensions between Iran and the West, coupled with the scenario within the Gaza Strip, exploded right into a full-scale 12-day warfare in June.
Tehran has lengthy threatened to shut off the Strait of Hormuz, the slender mouth of the Persian Gulf by way of which 20% of all traded oil passes. The U.S. Navy has lengthy patrolled the Mideast by way of its Bahrain-based fifth Fleet to maintain the waterways open.
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