Iran seized a US-bound oil tanker off Oman on Thursday, saying it had crashed into an Iranian vessel leaving two crew lacking — the most recent disruptive incident within the essential however troubled waterway.
The US Navy demanded the rapid launch of the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, saying it was transiting worldwide waters within the Gulf of Oman and slamming Iran’s “continued harassment of vessels”.
It’s certainly one of a spate of incidents since 2018, when then US president Donald Trump pulled out of a nuclear settlement and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran, sending tensions hovering.
“The Iranian authorities ought to instantly launch the oil tanker,” the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet stated in a press release.
“Iran’s actions are opposite to worldwide legislation and disruptive to regional safety and stability,” it added.
The newest flare-up comes solely days after Tehran’s Western rivals toughened sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Fifth Fleet initially blamed the Revolutionary Guards, however then stated the seize was carried out by Iran’s navy.
It recognized the vessel because the oil tanker Benefit Candy and stated it issued a misery name through the seizure.
Iran’s navy stated the “violator” ship was captured after a collision with an Iranian ship that left two lacking and a number of other injured.
“Following the collision of an unknown ship with an Iranian vessel within the waters of the Persian Gulf two of the vessel’s crew went lacking and a number of other others had been injured,” the Iranian navy stated in a press release.
“The navy of the military, by court docket order, seized the violator ship, that was fleeing with the flag of the Marshall Islands, and directed it to the coastal waters of the Islamic republic of Iran,” it added.
– Troubled waters –
Iran and the USA have traded barbs over the incidents within the delicate waters of the Gulf which might be a chokepoint for at the least a 3rd of the world’s seaborne oil.
Thursday’s seizure is simply the most recent incident within the Strait of Hormuz the place ships have been mysteriously attacked, drones downed and oil tankers seized since 2018.
“Prior to now two years, Iran has unlawfully seized at the least 5 industrial vessels crusing within the Center East,” the US Navy stated.
The MarineTraffic monitoring web site final confirmed the Benefit Candy, owned by Benefit Tankers, off the coast of Oman. The crude oil vessel had departed from Kuwait and was en path to Houston, it stated.
On Monday, the US, Britain and the European Union toughened sanctions in opposition to the Revolutionary Guards, citing alleged human rights violations.
The Western measures add to ones already taken over Tehran’s hardline response to protests that rocked Iran for the reason that September demise in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, after her arrest for an alleged breach of strict costume guidelines for ladies.
Iran later introduced countermeasures, together with monetary sanctions and entry bans, focusing on EU and UK people and entities for “imposing and exacerbating merciless sanctions”.
Tensions have escalated since 2018 when the US withdrew from the multinational accord that froze Iran’s nuclear programme. Marathon talks to restart the accord have stalled.
In July 2019, the Revolutionary Guards seized the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero in the identical waterway for allegedly ramming a fishing boat, and launched it two months later.
In 2021, Iran launched a South Korean oil tanker it had held for months amid a dispute over billions of {dollars} seized by Seoul. Final Might, Iran additionally seized two Greek oil tankers.
