This Thursday, the United States demanded that Iran immediately release an oil tanker seized in the Gulf of Oman and called on Tehran to cease any activity that disrupts international trade.
Although the Iranian Navy said the seized ship was an “American tanker,” the U.S. State Department clarified that the St. Nicholas is Greek-owned and flies under the flag of the Marshall Islands.
“The Iranian government must immediately release the ship and its crew. This unlawful seizure of a commercial vessel is the latest example of Iranian behavior designed to disrupt international trade,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement.
Patel called on Tehran to stop such “provocations” as they “add uncertainty to maritime transport” and pose a “threat to the global economy.”
This Thursday, the Iranian Navy announced the seizure of an “American oil tanker” in the Gulf of Oman, in response to the seizure of that country’s oil by the United States last year.
“The naval forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran seized an American oil tanker in the waters of the Arabian Sea in accordance with a court order,” the official IRNA news agency reported.
Although Iranian authorities identified the seized vessel as “American,” the tanker is the St. Nicholas, which was flagged in the Marshall Islands and owned by the Greek shipping company Empire Navigation.
According to the Greek state agency AMNA, the ship’s crew consists of 19 people, one of whom is Greek by nationality, and 18 are Filipinos. The vessel in question was involved in a year-long dispute in which the US Department of Justice seized a million barrels of Iranian crude oil it was carrying while it was still sailing as the Suez Rajan.
According to AMNA, the ship carried about 145 thousand tons of oil in Basra (Iraq) and reached its final destination in the city of Aliaga (Turkey) after it was chartered by the Turkish state oil company Tupras.
However, the ship is now heading to the Iranian port of Bandar-e-Jask, according to a statement released by British maritime security company Ambrey Analytics.
The incident comes amid high tensions in the region, with increased attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, allied with Tehran, on ships in the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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