Tehran, Iran — Iran and the US again disagreed on the Gulf of Oman oil ship seizure. Iran’s official media aired images of naval commandos helicopter-boarding the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Advantage Sweet on Friday. The Turkish-operated, Chinese-owned tanker reached the Gulf of Oman after passing through the Strait of Hormuz, transporting Kuwaiti crude oil for Chevron Corp. to Houston. Iran alleged the tanker collided with an unnamed Iranian vessel hours before its detention, causing several crew members to go overboard and go missing and others to be injured. The Iranian army stated the tanker bolted and disregarded radio requests for eight hours until being seized by court order.
We constantly urged on the vessel to halt so we may conduct a more extensive examination, but there was no cooperation’, said Iranian navy deputy for operations Mostafa Tajodini to state media. Advantage Tankers, the vessel’s Turkish management, claimed comparable incidents have demonstrated that the 24 Indian crew members are safe. Iran’s actions violated international law, according to the Middle East-based US Navy 5th Fleet, which demanded the tanker’s release. It said that Iran has taken at least five commercial vessels in the preceding two years.
Payback move
The US seized an oil ship to implement its unilateral sanctions on Tehran, according to Reporters. The Marshall Islands-flagged Suez Rajan, managed by Greece, was last seen around Southern Africa before being seized by Iran some days before the Advantage Sweet vessel. Last year, the US tried to take an Iranian oil shipment near Greece, leading Tehran to grab two Greek ships and keep them for months. Greek warships and cargo were returned to Iran by the highest court.
After former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in 2018, Washington imposed its harshest sanctions on Iran, including restrictions on oil sales. Iran has been bypassing embargoes and increasing oil shipments amid stalemate negotiations to reinstate the nuclear pact, which limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Twelve US senators called on President Joe Biden on Thursday to eliminate Treasury Department policy barriers that have prevented the seizure of further Iranian oil shipments, likely escalating tensions.
