Iran has reportedly seized a tanker carrying Iraqi crude oil bound for Turkey as a retaliatory action against the United States. The incident occurred following the confiscation of the same vessel and its oil by the U.S. in a sanctions enforcement operation last year. This move is expected to escalate tensions in the region.
The tanker in question, previously named the Suez Rajan, was seized by the U.S. last year due to alleged violations of sanctions while sailing under a different name. In response, Iran had warned of a potential response.
The St. Nikolas was intercepted by armed individuals as it approached the Omani city of Sohar, with its AIS tracking system deactivated while heading towards Iran’s Bandar-e-Jask port. The vessel had loaded 145,000 metric tonnes of oil in Iraq’s Basra port and was en route to Aliaga in western Turkey via the Suez Canal. Contact with the ship was lost, and it is now on its way to Iranian ports.
While Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militias have been involved in attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea in recent weeks to show support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, these incidents primarily occurred in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, to the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula. In contrast, Thursday’s incident took place closer to the Strait of Hormuz, between Oman and Iran.
The vessel was crewed by 19 individuals, including 18 Filipino nationals and one Greek national, and it had been chartered by Turkish oil refiner Tupras. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) received a report of the vessel being boarded by armed persons approximately 50 nautical miles east of Oman’s coast. These intruders were reportedly wearing military-style black uniforms and masks. Further investigations into the incident are ongoing.
The United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet has not yet provided a response or additional information regarding the situation.
Last year, when the Suez Rajan was seized, it was carrying over 980,000 barrels of Iranian crude oil. The U.S. asserted that the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was attempting to transport contraband Iranian oil to China in violation of U.S. sanctions. Due to concerns about secondary sanctions on vessels involved in unloading the oil, the vessel was unable to discharge the Iranian crude for almost two and a half months and was subsequently renamed the St. Nikolas after the cargo was offloaded.
