Iran seizes US-bound oil tanker in international waters
Iran’s navy seized an oil tanker as it traversed international waters in the Gulf of Oman, the US announced Thursday, the fifth such incident in recent years.
The US Navy’s 5th Fleet identified the captured vessel as the Marshall Islands-flagged Advantage Sweet, which issued a distress call during the incident.
The Navy statement made no mention of the tanker’s destination, but data from MarineTraffic.com showed it in the Gulf of Oman just north of Oman’s capital, Muscat, on Thursday afternoon local time.
It had just come from Kuwait and its destination was listed as Houston, Texas.
“Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability,” the 5th Fleet said. “The Iranian government should immediately release the oil tanker.
“Iran’s continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional waters are a threat to maritime security and the global economy,” the Navy statement added.
“In the past two years, Iran has unlawfully seized at least five commercial vessels sailing in the Middle East.”
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said the seizure came after an “unknown ship collided with an Iranian vessel last night in the Persian Gulf, causing several Iranian crew members to go missing and get injured.” It did not identify the other ship involved in the alleged collision.
Iran has made allegations in other seizures that later fell apart as it became clear that Tehran was trying to leverage the capture as a chip to negotiate with foreign nations.
The vessel’s manager, a Turkish firm called Advantage Tankers, issued a statement acknowledging the Advantage Sweet was “being escorted by the Iranian navy to a port on the basis of an international dispute.”
“The safety and welfare of our valued crew members is our No. 1 priority,” the firm said. “Similar experiences show that crew members of vessels taken under such circumstances are in no danger.”
The ship’s listed owner appeared to be a Chinese company.
Manifest information from data firm Refinitiv showed that Advantage Sweet carried Kuwaiti crude oil for Chevon, which did not have an immediate comment.
In addition to the ship seizures mentioned by the Navy, the US has fingered Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a fatal drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021.
The last major seizure came when Iran took two Greek tankers in May and held them until November.
Meanwhile, talks over Iran’s tattered nuclear deal have been stalled for a year. Since the deal’s collapse, Iran runs advanced centrifuges and has a rapidly growing stockpile of enriched uranium.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has warned that Iran has enriched enough up to 60% purity — a short technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
That would be sufficient for Iran to make several nuclear weapons if it chooses to do so.
