The US Navy says Iran has seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman amid wider tensions over Iran’s nuclear program.
Key points:
- It is the fifth commercial vessel taken by Tehran in the last two years
- Iran did not immediately acknowledge the seizure
- The seizure is the latest in a string of hijackings and explosions
The navy identified the vessel as the ‘Advantage Sweet’. Satellite tracking data for the vessel showed it in the Gulf of Oman just north of Oman’s capital, Muscat, on Thursday afternoon (local time). It had come from Kuwait and was headed for Houston, Texas.
The ‘Advantage Sweet’ issued a distress call at 1:15pm on Thursday, while in international waters as Iran seized the vessel, the navy said.
“Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability,” the navy said.
“Iran should immediately release the oil tanker.”
It said the Iranian seizure was the fifth commercial vessel taken by Tehran in the last two years.
“Iran’s continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional waters are a threat to maritime security and the global economy,” it added.
The vessel’s manager, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Iran did not immediately acknowledge the seizure and Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The seizure by Iran was the latest in a string of hijackings and explosions to roil a region that includes the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of all traded oil passes.
The incidents began after then-president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
The US Navy has also blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a fatal drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021.
Tehran denies carrying out the attacks, but a wider shadow war between Iran and Western nations has played out in the region’s volatile waters. Tanker seizures have been a part of it since 2019.
AP