(TheRedAlertNews.com) – In a dangerous new escalation of Middle East tensions directly targeting the United States, the terrorism-sponsoring regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran has seized an American oil tanker, claiming it was retaliating for last year’s seizure of a sanctioned oil shipment by the US Navy.
The tanker was transporting Iraqi oil bound for Turkey. In 2023, the United States captured the same ship and its Iranian oil.
The Iranian state media reported this development, indicating a potential escalation of regional tensions, according to a report by Al Jazeera.
“The Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran seized an American oil tanker in the waters of the Gulf of Oman in accordance with a court order,” Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency stated.
“After the theft of Iranian oil by the United States last year, St Nikolas tanker was seized by Iran’s Navy,” the Iranian navy declared, as quoted by the Iranian news agency Fars.
The United States strongly criticized the incident, labeling it an “unlawful seizure,” and urged Iran to “immediately release the ship and its crew.”
This seizure follows a series of attacks in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, an Iranian proxy, on various vessels.
These rebels claim their actions support the Palestinians in Gaza against Israel’s military operations.
While the Houthis have mainly focused on the Bab al-Mandab Strait, south of the Arabian Peninsula, Thursday’s event occurred near the Strait of Hormuz, situated between Oman and Iran.
According to the British maritime security firm Ambrey, the episode began around 7:30 am (03:30 GMT) when armed individuals boarded the Marshall Islands-flagged St Nikolas, approximately 50 nautical miles east of Sohar in Oman. The ship then headed towards Bandar-e-Jask in Iran.
TankerTrackers.com, a service that monitors global oil shipments, reported that the tanker was carrying “Iraqi oil” and was formerly known as Suez Rajan.
Ambrey revealed that the tanker, recently renamed, had been previously penalized for transporting sanctioned Iranian oil, which the US authorities confiscated.
This dispute concluded with the US Department of Justice seizing one million barrels of Iranian crude.
The newly seized tanker was chartered by the Turkish oil refiner Tupras. It had a crew of 19, including 18 Filipinos and one Greek.
The US and its allies have been seizing Iranian oil cargoes since 2019, leading to various attacks in the Middle East attributed to Iran.
