On April 27, at approximately 1:15 p.m. local time, the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Advantage Sweet was seized by the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy while transiting international waters in the Gulf of Oman, US Naval Forces Central Command (USNFCC) announced on Thursday.
“The tanker issued a distress call during the seizure. The US 5th Fleet is monitoring the situation,” USNFCC said in the statement.
“Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and harm regional security and stability. The Iranian government should immediately release the tanker,” the organization added.
“Iran’s continued harassment of ships and interference with navigational rights in regional waters are a threat to maritime security and the global economy,” the USNFCC continued.
The Islamic Republic News Agency, which describes itself as “the parent news agency and official body of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” reported Thursday that Iran’s military “announced that its naval forces captured an offensive Marshall Islands-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Oman after it collided with an Iranian vessel and attempted to flee the scene.”
In a statement posted on its site, Dryad Global noted that the vessel Advantage Sweet was entering Houston, Texas, after loading at Mina Saud.
“The current situation regarding the vessel is unclear, but it is understood that the vessel was boarded by Iranian forces,” Dryad Global said in the statement.
“The IRGC’s harassing activity in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman is commensurate with an established pattern of behavior that has seen Iran target ships as a result of ongoing disputes,” Dryad added in the statement.
“This has previously been seen with the Iranian detention of both Stena Impero (UK) and Hankuk Chemi (South Korea), the former in retaliation for the detention of Grace 1 and the subsequent resulting asset freeze and funds related to South Korea. Iran,” Dryad continued.
In the statement, Dryad noted that it remains a realistic possibility that the ship was boarded as a show of force in response to the first transit of a US unmanned vessel through the Strait of Hormuz or the recent sanction of the US Treasury Department. four senior Iranian law enforcement officers connected to the IRGC.
On April 27, the United States Department of the Treasury announced that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned four senior officials of the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran (IRGC-IO).
In the announcement, the Treasury Department described the action as the first under Executive Order 14078, Strengthen efforts to bring home hostages and wrongfully detained U.S. nationals, which he said “reaffirms the fundamental commitment of the US government to bring home US nationals taken hostage and wrongfully detained abroad.”
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