Iran seized the second oil tanker in a week
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Iran seized the Panamanian-flagged Niovi oil tanker – the second oil tanker seized by the country in a week.
It is reported Financial Times citing a statement from the US Navy.
The oil tanker was en route from Dubai to the port of Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman when it was seized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGCN), the US Navy said in a statement.
The statement added that “a dozen high-speed boats of the Navy Corps attacked the vessel in the middle of the Strait of Hormuz” and “forced the oil tanker to change course” in the direction of Iranian territorial waters.
The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most important oil transportation route – about a third of all seaborne oil cargoes must pass through the narrow strait that separates Iran from the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf.
On Friday, the Iranian Navy also captured oil tanker Advantage Sweet under the flag of the Marshall Islands in the Gulf of Oman in international waters, which was chartered by the American company Chevron.
US officials told the Financial Times that they believe the seizure of the Advantage Sweet was retaliation after the US seized a cargo of Iranian oil under a court order and diverted it to the US.
Iranian media did not report the reason for the seizure, but the Mizan news agency quoted Tehran’s attorney general as saying it was a court order.
Pictures released by the US Navy show that the Niovi was empty at the time of the capture.
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