Iran seizes an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz

TEHRAN, Iran -- TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran seized a foreign oil tanker as it traveled the strategic Strait of Hormuz, state media said Friday.Mojtaba Ghahramani, a provincial chief of the justice department, said the oil tanker was carrying some 4 million liters, or 25,000 barrels, of smuggled fuel when the Revolutionary Guard naval forces seized the vessel, the official IRNA news agency reported.Ghahramani said the forces also detained 16 foreign crew members of the tanker, adding that the seizure was a remarkable “blow “ to smugglers.He did not disclose the nationality of the crew or the flag of the tanker.Iran occasionally seizes oil-carrying vessels over similar charges in the region.

In November, Iran seized a ship as it traveled through the narrow Strait of Hormuz over what it said were violations, including carrying an illegal consignment.The West has blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021.Those attacks began after U.S.

President Donald Trump, in his first term in office, unilaterally withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.Popular ReadsMajor winter storm predicted to bring snow, ice to Midwest and NortheastDec 25, 4:56 PMUkrainian drones attack Moscow, Russia says, as Zelenskyy says Kyiv ready for dealDec 24, 6:08 AMRob Reiner's son arrested for murder in stabbing death of famed director, wifeDec 15, 6:39 PMIran also seized the Portuguese-flagged cargo ship MSC Aries in April 2024.Following years of tensions between Iran and the West, coupled with the situation in the Gaza Strip, Iran saw a full-scale 12-day war in June with Israel, whose strikes led to the deaths of senior military commanders and nuclear scientists.Iran’s retaliatory missile barrage killed 28 in Israel.Tehran has long threatened to close off the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through ...