Iran confirms its navy seized tanker in Gulf of Oman

By AP 11 January 2024, 3:20 pm

3 Edit

File: Vessels identified as the Virgo, left, and the Suez Rajan, by the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, are seen in the South China Sea on February 13, 2022. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Iran confirms that its forces seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, which was reported earlier in the day to have been boarded by armed men in military uniforms.

The state-run IRNA news agency runs a brief story acknowledging the seizure by Iran’s navy. It does not identify the vessel, but says the seizure came as a result of a judicial order.

Suspicion had immediately fallen on Iran as the ship was once known as the Suez Rajan and had been involved in a yearlong dispute that ultimately saw the US Justice Department seize 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil on it.

The apparent seizure also comes after weeks of attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea.