The Iranian authorities confirmed this Thursday the seizure of a ship sailing in the Gulf of Oman, hours after a boarding was reported by “unauthorized persons”“and the loss of contact with the ship, as alerted by United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and the company that owns the vessel, the ‘M/T St. Nikolas’. The Iranian Navy has indicated that the seized vessel is “American” and He added that the seizure took place following an order issued by a court, without there being any further details at the moment, as reported by the Iranian news agency Mehr.

For your partthe United States has demanded this Thursday that Iran immediately release the tanker and has urged Tehran to stop all those activities that “disturb” international trade. Although the Iranian Navy announced that the captured ship is an “American tanker”, the US State Department has stated that the St Nikolas vessel is Greek-owned and was sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands. “The Iranian government must immediately release the ship and its crew. This illegal seizure of a commercial vessel is the latest example of Iran’s behavior aimed at disrupting international commerce,” said State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel in a statement. a news conference

Meanwhile, Iran has published images of the boarding of the ship, before adding that the vessel was seized in September by the United States. under the argument that it was transporting oil to China, something that would violate the sanctions imposed by Washington on Tehran. The Iranian Navy has stressed that the ship, previously named ‘Suez Rajan’, was recently renamed ‘M/T St. Nikolas’. The US Department of Justice has reported the seizure of said tanker and the seizure of 980,000 barrels of crude oil for a violation of its sanctions.

Vedant Patel, likewise, has urged Tehran to stop this type of “provocations” because “they add uncertainty to maritime transport” and imply “a threat to the global economy“. Later, in another press conference, John Kirby, one of the White House spokespersons, condemned the capture of the tanker and also called for its release. “There is no justification for confiscating it, none at all. “They have to let him go,” Kirby said.

A crew member of Greek nationality and 18, Filipino

According to the Greek state agency AMNA, the ship It is crewed by a total of 19 people, one of Greek nationality and 18 of Filipino nationality. The ship in question was involved in a year-long dispute in which the US Department of Justice ended up seizing one million barrels of Iranian crude oil that it was carrying when it was still sailing under the name “Suez Rajan.” According to AMNA, the ship had loaded some 145,000 tons of oil in Basra, Iraq, and had the city of Aliaga (Turkey) as its final destination, since it had been chartered by the Turkish state oil company Tupras.

However, the ship is now heading towards the Iranian port of Bandar-e-Jask, according to a statement issued by British maritime security company Ambrey Analytics. This incident occurs amid high tensions in the area, with an increase in rebel attacks Houthis of Yemen, allies of Tehran, contra ships in the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip.