Iran seizes oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz

[mystery-ak]

Iran seizes oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz
by Ellie Bufkin
 | July 18, 2019 08:08 AM

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has seized a Panamanian oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state TV. The 12-person crew of MT Riah was accused by Iran of smuggling oil as it neared the Iranian island of Qeshm which is home to a Revolutionary Guard base.

Iranian state TV did not initially identify the vessel but said that a foreign oil tanker was seized on Sunday south of Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz trying to smuggle approximately one million liters of fuel from Iran to foreign customers.

Reports from Iranian state TV seemingly contradict a Wednesday statement from Iran's Foreign Ministry that said Iran had aided a foreign oil tanker that was malfunctioning but did not say that a tanker had been seized by the Iranian government.

more
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/iran-seizes-oil-tanker-in-strait-of-hormuz

[berdie]

I really haven't seen a lot on the MSM about this (surprise!!) but that maybe a good thing for a change. I saw a brief segment that said we have sent a ship with a lot of Marines...that may be all Iran needs to know.

[thackney]

This likely is not a big deal and some are mis-representing the event.

Mystery surrounds Iran's seizure of oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/18/iran-seizes-oil-tanker-gulf/

...No country is yet to claim ownership of the Panama-flagged MT Riah, which went missing over the weekend. She appears to have changed management several times in the last few months. The last known company, KBR Petrochem, could not be reached for comment....

...She was then tracked near the coast of Ras al-Khaimah before changing course and travelling north towards Iranian waters, after which it stopped transmitting its signal on Sunday at about 4.30am local time....

...She was then tracked near the coast of Ras al-Khaimah before changing course and travelling north towards Iranian waters, after which it stopped transmitting its signal on Sunday at about 4.30am local time....

...Mohammd Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, told reporters at the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York: “It’s not a tanker. It’s a small ship carrying a million litres, not a million barrels, of oil. We do it every other day. These are people who are smuggling our fuel.

"This is … one of the things that we do in the Persian Gulf, because of the heavy subsidies that we provide for our own fuel products,” he said....