- Oil tanker violates the law by transporting unauthorized cargo: IRGC.
- The ship left the United Arab Emirates and was heading to Singapore.
- The tanker was carrying 30,000 tons of petrochemical cargo.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard confirmed on Saturday that they had seized an oil tanker in the Gulf off the country’s coast, a day after security companies determined they were likely responsible.
“Yesterday morning, at 7:30, after a judicial authority ordered the seizure of the cargo of a tanker with the trade name Talara and the flag of the Marshall Islands, the rapid reaction units of the naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of the naval forces monitored its movements, intercepted it and seized it,” said a statement from the IRGC, the ideological arm of the Islamic republic’s army.
“The tanker was found to be violating the law by carrying unauthorized cargo,” the statement continued, adding that it was “carrying 30,000 tons of petrochemical cargo and was headed to Singapore.”
The ship had left Ajman, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and was heading south through the Strait of Hormuz when it was boarded by three small boats, after which it made a “sudden course deviation,” maritime security company Ambrey reported.
The US Navy had previously said it was “actively monitoring the situation.”
“Commercial ships have unimpeded navigation and commerce rights on the high seas,” said the US Fifth Fleet, which patrols the region.
The Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global oil and liquefied natural gas, has been the scene of similar incidents in the past.
Last year, the Revolutionary Guard seized a container ship, saying it had ties to Israel, following a deadly attack on Iran’s consulate in Syria blamed on Israel.
