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State news agency IRNA published an article confirming the seizure of an oil tanker by the Iranian navy.
Iran has said its forces seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that was reportedly boarded by gunmen in military uniforms earlier in the day.
“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,” state news agency IRNA said.
Iran's Fars News Agency also reported, citing a statement from the military: “Following the theft of Iranian oil by the United States last year, the tanker St. Nikolas was seized by the Iranian Navy.”
The seizure came after weeks of attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis on ships in the Red Sea supposedly defending Palestinians in Gaza during Israel's war against the enclave.
The group's attacks have raised the risk of possible retaliation from U.S.-led forces patrolling the busy waterway, particularly after a U.N. Security Council vote on Wednesday condemning the Houthis.
But while the Houthis are focused on the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula, Thursday's incident occurred closer to the Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran.
British maritime security firm Ambrey said earlier the incident began around 7:30 a.m. (0330 GMT) when “four or five” men boarded the Marshall Islands-flagged St. Nikolas, about 50 nautical miles east of Sohar in Oman, and then on the way to Bandar-e-Jask in Iran.
Tankertrackers.com, which tracks and reports global crude oil shipments, said the tanker was carrying “Iraqi oil” and had previously sailed under the name Suez Rajan.
Ambrey said the recently renamed tanker had previously been prosecuted and fined for carrying sanctioned Iranian oil that was seized by U.S. authorities. The year-long dispute ended with the US Justice Department seizing one million barrels of Iranian crude oil.
The British military's UKTMO, which warns sailors in the Middle East, said the incident began in waters between Oman and Iran and that it had received a report from the ship's safety manager that “unknown voices were heard on the telephone” alongside the ship's captain.
Ambrey said the men covered surveillance cameras when they boarded the ship. When the tanker appeared to be heading towards Bandar-e-Jask, its tracking device was switched off, it said.
According to Marine Traffic, a tracking website, the St. Nikolas was traveling from the Iraqi port of Basra to Turkey.
The ship was manned by a crew of 19 people, including 18 Filipino nationals and one Greek national, the operator said, adding that Turkish oil refiner Tupras chartered it.
The Gulf of Oman, a key oil industry route separating Oman and Iran, has seen a series of hijackings and attacks over the years, often involving Iran.
Since the collapse of the Iran nuclear deal, there have also been a series of tense encounters in the waterway between Iran and the U.S. Fifth Fleet and Navy, which patrols the Middle East.
The U.S. and its allies have also been seizing Iranian oil cargoes since 2019, leading to a series of attacks in the Middle East attributed to Iran and ship seizures by its military and paramilitary forces that threatened global shipping.