This marks the second such incident in the waterway in a week. The US Fifth Fleet and Iranian media both confirmed the seizure by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ naval force on Wednesday. The tanker was identified as the Panama-flagged Niovi, and it was forced to reverse course into Iranian territorial waters. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency stated that the vessel was, indeed, seized by the IRGC, but did not provide any further information.
While a few days earlier, the naval force of the Iranian army had seized another oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman. The US Fifth Fleet classified the seizure of the Turkish-operated and Chinese-owned tanker named Advantage Sweet as a violation of international law and a “threat to maritime security and global economy”. Iran claimed that the tanker had collided with an Iranian vessel, and subsequently fled the scene despite repeated warnings.
