Illustrative image. (The Mehr News Agency)
The Iranian Navy seized a tanker in the Gulf of Oman on January 11 in response to the theft of Iranian oil by the United States last year, Iranian state media reported.
“The Navy of Iran’s Army has announced the seizure of an American oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman with a judicial order,” Iranian state media cited a statement by the military as saying.
The tanker was identified as the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker St Nikolas, which was reportedly loaded with Iraqi crude destined for Turkey .
Earlier in the day, the British maritime security firm Ambrey reported that the St Nikolas was boarded by gunmen as it sailed close to the Omani city of Sohar. The tanker’s AIS tracking system was turned off as it headed in the direction of the Iranian port of Bandar-e-Jask.
In 2023 the St Nikolas was seized by the U.S. in a sanctions enforcement operation when it sailed under a different name, Suez Rajan.
The U.S. said at the time that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had been trying to smuggle Iranian oil to China, in violation of U.S. sanctions.
The Suez Rajan was carrying more than 980,000 barrels of Iranian crude oil when it was seized and the oil confiscated in the U.S. sanctions enforcement operation. Following the seizure of the tanker, Iran warned the U.S. that “it will not go unanswered”.
The Gulf of Oman and nearby waters witnessed in recent years a series of ship seizures by Iran as well as attacks targeting shipping which were often blamed on the IRGC.
The seizure of the St Nikolas came amid high tensions between Iran and the U.S. over the Israeli war on the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
The Iranian-backed Houthis (Ansar Allah) in Yemen have already seized a cargo ship and attacked several others to protest the war, which led to a shipping crisis in the Red Sea. Washington responded by forming a naval coalition and deploying a carrier strike group near Yemen’s waters.
