Reuters
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Iran confirmed on Saturday that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards had seized a tanker carrying petrochemicals bound for Singapore in Gulf waters for suspected violations, Iranian state media reported.
U.S. officials and maritime security sources said Friday that Iranian forces had seized an oil products tanker and diverted it into Iranian territorial waters. This is the first report that the Iranian government has seized a tanker since the Israeli-American attack on Iran in June.
Iranian state television quoted the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as saying in a statement that the tanker had committed a violation for transporting unauthorized cargo. Details of the alleged violation were not disclosed.
Maritime officials said the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Talala was sailing off the coast of the United Arab Emirates with a cargo of high-sulphur gas oil as it passed through the Indian Ocean en route from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Singapore.
The ship’s manager, Columbia Shipmanagement, announced on Friday morning that contact with the Talala was lost about 20 nautical miles off the coast of Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He added that the ship is working closely with coast guard agencies, ship owners and other relevant parties to restore contact.
The ship is owned by Cyprus-based Pasha Finance.
The U.S. military said in a statement that it was aware of the incident and was actively monitoring the situation.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have regularly seized commercial ships in Gulf waters in recent years for maritime violations, including suspected smuggling, technical violations and legal disputes.
But the U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident was surprising because Iran had not conducted such operations in recent months.
Iran has curbed military activity in the region since June, when it carried out 12 days of airstrikes on Israel, in which the United States also participated. The last reported seizure of a vessel was in April 2024.
