Iran: “We seized a Greek tanker because it worked for the United States”

Iran, in a statement, claimed responsibility for the seizure of a Greek-owned tanker in the Gulf of Oman, stressing that it did so because the vessel “St. Nikolas“”works for the USA.”

We’re talking about a tanker.”St. Nikolas” under the flag of the Marshall Islands (formerly Suez Rajan), which is associated with the Greek shipping company Empire Navigation.

On Thursday morning, armed men who Tehran said belonged to the country’s navy boarded the tanker. Maritime security company Ambrey said “six armed men dressed in black” boarded the vessel. During the invasion they covered the surveillance cameras.

The incident began early this morning in the waters between Oman and Iran, near the Omani city of Sohar, through which ships pass in and out of the Strait of Hormuz.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (#UKMTO) receives a report of an incident 50 nautical miles east of #Oman’s Sohar. pic.twitter.com/Xdu3KmQ6Nb

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) January 11, 2024

As reported by IRNA on Telegram carrying an announcement from the Iranian army: “According to a Navy public affairs report, this year the oil tanker Suez Rajan stole a US-led oil cargo belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran, transported it to that country’s ports and made it available to the United States.”

⚡️Maritime Incident in the vicinity of #OMAN pic.twitter.com/XsAQVLRmtd

— Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_) January 11, 2024

“This oil tanker, renamed Nicholas ST, was carrying oil in the Sea of ​​Oman, which was seized this morning by court order and with the permission of the Ports and Maritime Organization by the Strategic Naval Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army in retaliation for the theft of oil by the American regime. It is being transferred to the ports of the Islamic Republic for delivery to judicial authorities.”

The ship was previously named the Suez Rajan and was involved in a years-long dispute that resulted in the US Department of Justice seizing 1 million barrels of Iranian oil it was carrying. After the tanker was hijacked last year, Iran warned the United States that this “will not go unanswered.” It is unclear why Iranian media referred to the tanker as an American vessel.

توقیف نفتکش آمریکایی توسط نیروی دریایی ارتش

نیروی دریایی ارتش جمهوری اسلامی ایران از توقیف یک نفتکش آمریکایی با حکم قضایی در آبهای دریای عمان خبر داد. pic.twitter.com/jsqlNOqfDL

— خبرگزاری ایرنا (@IRNA_1313) January 11, 2024

At least one of the crew members is Greek. According to the Ministry of Shipping, the Greek sailor is registered as a midshipman. This ship was also involved in a case of violating US sanctions against Iran. Let us recall that the United States unilaterally imposed sanctions against Iran and also passed a law according to which the assets of organizations considered terrorist must be used to pay compensation to victims of terrorism, for example, victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.

In February 2022 the group “Alliance against nuclear Iran” said it suspected the tanker was carrying oil from Iran’s Kharg Island, the main oil distribution terminal in the Persian Gulf.

US authorities accused the shipowner of violating sanctions against Iran, and also demanded the confiscation of the ship’s cargo, since it was believed that money from its sale would go to the needs of the Revolutionary Guard, which the US government considers a terrorist organization.

The legal dispute left the ship grounded for months in the South China Sea off the northeast coast of Singapore. The vessel’s owner, Empire Navigation, eventually pleaded guilty to the charges, paid a $2.5 million fine and complied with the removal of the cargo, which was finally unloaded last August. The US authorities considered this case a major success for themselves. The ship was then renamed Suez Rajan to St Nicholas and sailed from Houston, Texas.

Thus, the current development of events with the seizure of a ship transporting oil from Basra (Iraq) to Turkey and its redirection to an Iranian port is a kind of response from Tehran.

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