Reuters reported that the IRGC directed the Talara oil tanker toward the shores of Iran. The Colombian company that owns the Talara also confirmed that it has lost contact with the vessel.
A U.S. official said on Friday, November 14, that Iran’s regime seized the Talara oil tanker, which sails under the Marshall Islands flag, in the Strait of Hormuz and transferred it into its territorial waters.
The United States Fifth Fleet also announced in a post on the social platform X that it is aware of the incident involving the Talara vessel. The Fifth Fleet is responsible for U.S. naval operations in the Persian Gulf region.
This military body emphasized that commercial vessels have the right to unobstructed navigation and trade in international waters.
The Associated Press wrote that a U.S. Navy drone patrolled for hours over the area where the tanker was present and witnessed its seizure.
Earlier, Ambrey, a maritime security company based in the United Kingdom, stated that an oil tanker near Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates suddenly deviated from its route and was heading toward Iranian territorial waters.
The company also reported that the tanker had been traveling from Ajman in the UAE toward Singapore and had previously been attacked by three small boats while passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
On November 11, Ali Abdollahi, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters—a key military command within Iran’s regime—said during a visit to the Naza’at islands in the Persian Gulf that the purpose of the trip was to “assess the readiness of the IRGC Navy,” adding that “good measures” had been taken in several areas.
Iran’s regime has repeatedly seized foreign vessels in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf in recent years.
On July 16, the chief justice of Hormozgan Province announced the seizure of a foreign oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on charges of “fuel smuggling.”
Mojtaba Ghahremani stated that the vessel was first inspected “due to incomplete legal documentation related to its cargo,” and was later seized for allegedly “carrying 2 million liters of smuggled fuel.”
He did not specify the owner of the ship or the country whose flag it was sailing under.
On July 29, 2024, the IRGC announced the seizure of the Pearl G oil tanker, sailing under the flag of Togo, and the arrest of its nine crew members in northern Persian Gulf waters near the Arash oil field, accusing the vessel of carrying “more than 700,000 liters of smuggled oil.”
A week earlier, on July 21, Ambrey, the British maritime security company, announced that the IRGC had seized another Togo-flagged tanker managed by the United Arab Emirates near the port of Bushehr.
On April 13, 2024, the IRGC Navy seized a Portuguese-flagged cargo ship named MSC Aries in regional waters. Shortly afterward, the foreign ministry of Iran’s regime claimed that the vessel belonged to Israel in an attempt to justify the action.
Meanwhile, for decades, officials of Iran’s regime have repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, which is one of the world’s main energy arteries and a critical route for global oil shipments.
