Iran has seized an oil tanker within the Gulf of Oman saying the vessel was carrying six million litres of diesel gas and had 18 crew members from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on board, as per information company AFP. Fars information company cited an official from Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, saying the tanker had disabled all its navigation techniques earlier than being intercepted.
The operation displays Iran’s frequent bulletins of boarding ships it claims are transporting gas illegally. Gas costs in Iran are among the many lowest globally, making smuggling extremely worthwhile. Final month, Iranian authorities seized one other tanker for carrying what they described as an unauthorised cargo, denying that the transfer was in retaliation in opposition to any international nation.Iran has a historical past of focusing on business vessels within the area. In November, it confirmed the seizure of the Marshall Islands–flagged tanker Talara within the Strait of Hormuz, alleging it carried an “unlawful consignment” of petrochemical merchandise en path to Singapore. That operation adopted a courtroom order, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stating it was carried out to guard Iran’s nationwide pursuits. Previous incidents embody assaults on business vessels utilizing limpet mines in 2019, drone strikes in 2021 that killed two crew members, and the seizure of Greek and Portuguese-flagged tankers in 2022 and 2024.The newest seizure comes simply two days after the US took management of a tanker off Venezuela’s coast. Washington stated the ship, transporting oil from Venezuela and Iran, was a part of a sanctioned oil community supporting Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The US Coast Guard carried out the operation by boarding the vessel from a helicopter. President Donald Trump’s administration has been intensifying stress on Venezuela, together with sanctions and naval deployments, citing alleged hyperlinks between Caracas, Iran, and drug-trafficking networks. The seized tanker, anticipated to dock in Galveston, Texas, can have its crew launched upon arrival, US officers stated. Venezuela’s authorities condemned the motion as “blatant theft” and “worldwide piracy,” with President Nicolas Maduro calling it an assault on free commerce.The Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz are strategic chokepoints, with about 20% of the world’s oil commerce passing via them. Tensions stay excessive as Tehran continues to say management over maritime routes, whereas the US Navy’s Bahrain-based fifth Fleet maintains a presence to safeguard business delivery. The interception underscores the continuing geopolitical contest over power assets within the area and highlights the dangers confronted by worldwide crews navigating these waters.
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