Iran's navy seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman and forced it to change course.
"The Navy of the Republic of Iran seized an American oil tanker in the waters of the Gulf of Oman in accordance with a court order," the official IRNA news agency said.
The seizure was in retaliation for "violation committed by the Suez Rajan ship... and the theft of Iranian oil by the United States", IRNA said.
"The Iranian government must immediately release the ship and its crew," according to the US State Department of State.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Middle East, announced receiving a report from the ship’s security manager of hearing “unknown voices over the phone” alongside the ship’s captain.
It said that further efforts to contact the ship had failed and that the men who boarded the vessel wore “black military-style uniforms with black masks.”
British maritime security firm Ambrey said "four to five armed persons" had boarded the ship, which it identified as the St. Nikolas.
The St. Nikolas was earlier named the Suez Rajan.
The Marshall Islands-flagged St Nikolas was boarded at about 7:30 a.m. 50 nautical miles east of Sohar in Oman and then headed towards Bandar-e-Jask in Iran, according to the British firm.
"The individuals covered the vessel's cameras," Ambrey reported, adding that a security officer "reported hearing unknown voices over the phone along with the master's voice."
Ambrey added that the recently renamed tanker was previously prosecuted and fined for carrying sanctioned Iranian oil, which was confiscated by US authorities.
The St Nikolas was sailing from the Iraqi port of Basra to Türkiye, according to Marine Traffic, a tracking website.
The vessel was carrying 19 crew members- 18 Filipinos and one Greek.
Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation (TUPRAS) confirmed Thursday that the tanker seized in the Sea of Oman was carrying oil to Türkiye.
TUPRAS stated that the ship is "carrying approximately 140,000 tons of crude oil which we purchased from the Iraqi state oil company SOMO and is on its way from Basra Port to be delivered to our refinery."
Attention began focusing on the Suez Rajan in February 2022, when the group United Against Nuclear Iran said it suspected the tanker carried oil from Iran's Khargh Island, its main oil distribution terminal in the Arabian Gulf. Satellite photos and shipping data analyzed at the time by the AP supported the allegation.
For months, the ship sat in the South China Sea off the northeast coast of Singapore before suddenly sailing for the Texas coast without explanation. The vessel discharged its cargo to another tanker in August, which released its oil in Houston as part of a Justice Department order.
In September, Empire Navigation pleaded guilty to smuggling sanctioned Iranian crude oil and agreed to pay a $2.4 million fine over a case involving the tanker.
After the Suez Rajan headed for America, Iran seized two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, including one with cargo for major US oil company Chevron Corp.
In July, the Guards' navy commander Alireza Tangsiri warned that Iran would retaliate against any oil company unloading Iranian oil from a seized tanker.
The seizure also comes after weeks of attacks by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthis on shipping in the Red Sea, including their largest barrage ever of drones and missiles launched late Tuesday.
That has raised the risk of possible retaliatory strikes by US-led forces now patrolling the vital waterway, especially after a United Nations Security Council vote on Wednesday condemning the Houthis. American and British officials have warned of the potential consequences of the attacks.
