US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters, “The Iranian government must release the ship and its crew immediately. This illegal seizure is the latest or Iran-facilitated action aimed at obstructing international trade.”
Patel stressed, “It is important to be very clear that the United States continues to vigorously impose our sanctions on Iran.”
The Iranian official news agency, IRNA, reported on Thursday that “Iranian naval forces stopped an American oil tanker in the waters of the Sea of Oman by a judicial order.”
“Four to five armed individuals boarded the St. Nicholas crude oil tanker flying the Marshall Islands flag while it was approximately 50 nautical miles east of the Omani state of Sohar,” said Embrey, a maritime security company.
She explained that the tanker “changed its direction and increased its speed before losing contact with it and headed towards (the port of) Bandar Jask in Iran,” noting that the tanker, under its former name (Suez Rajan), was judicially prosecuted for transporting sanctioned Iranian oil that was confiscated by Washington.
Washington confirmed in September 2023 that, in April of the same year, it had confiscated an Iranian oil shipment that was on board a tanker called “Suez Rajan” operated by a Greek company.
Tehran confirmed that the tanker was confiscated on Thursday in response to that step.
Oil exports were considered one of Iran's most prominent resources before 2018, when the United States unilaterally withdrew from the international agreement regarding Tehran's nuclear file and reimposed harsh sanctions on it.
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