Iran seizes oil tanker involved in U.S.-Iran dispute in Gulf of Oman
By Jana Choukeir, Ahmed Elimam and Robert Harvey
DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran seized a tanker with Iraqi crude destined for Turkey on Thursday in retaliation for the confiscation last year of the same vessel and its oil by the U.S., Iranian state media reported, a move likely to stoke regional tensions.
The seizure of the Marshall Islands-flagged St Nikolas coincides with weeks of attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militias targeting Red Sea shipping routes.
«After the theft of Iranian oil by the United States last year, St Nikolas tanker was seized by Iran's Navy this morning with a judicial order… it is en route to Iranian ports,» the semi-official Fars news agency reported, citing a statement by the Navy.
In Washington, the Pentagon said Iranian forces unlawfully boarded the St Nikolas in the Gulf of Oman and forced it to change course toward Iranian territorial waters.
The White House condemned the seizure.
«No justification whatsoever to seize it, none whatsoever. They need to let it go,» White House national security spokesperson John Kirby (NYSE:KEX) said.
The U.S. seized the St Nikolas last year in a sanctions enforcement operation when it sailed under a different name, Suez Rajan. Iran warned the U.S. the move would «not go unanswered».
Armed intruders boarded the St Nikolas as it sailed close to the Omani city of Sohar, according to British maritime security firm Ambrey, and its AIS tracking system was turned off as it headed in the direction of the Iranian port of Bandar-e-Jask.
«Communication with the oil tanker, St Nikolas, under Marshall Islands flag and owned by the Greek shipowner Empire Navigation has been cut off around 06:30 on Jan. 11 in the waters of Oman,» Turkish oil refiner Tupras told Reuters in
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