Iran Seizes Oil Tanker Involved in US-Iran Dispute in Gulf of Oman

 

Iranian navy has seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that was at the center of a major US-Iran crisis. The vessel was once known as the Suez Rajan and had been involved in a yearlong dispute that ultimately saw the U.S. Justice Department seize 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil on it. 

The tanker was carrying Iraqi crude oil intended for Turkey. The seizure comes as a response to the previous year’s seizure of the same vessel by the United States. The ship was reportedly confiscated by Iran as the result of a court order. The incident occurred early in the morning in the waters between Oman and Iran in an area transited by ships coming in and out of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. The vessel was boarded by armed men and the ship’s security officer heard unknown voices on the phone . The tanker had been off the city of Basra, Iraq, loading crude oil bound for Aliaga, Turkey, for the Turkish refinery firm Tupras. The ship was identified as the oil tanker St. Nikolas.