Iran Says It Seized Tanker Over US "Theft" of Its Oil

Iran has defended its military's seizure of an oil tanker amid soaring tensions at sea in the Middle East, arguing that the move was legally justified as a result of the United States' earlier capture of the same vessel in line with Washington's sanctions policy.

"The Iranian Army's seizure of the oil tanker does not constitute hijacking; rather, it is a lawful undertaking sanctioned by a court order and corresponds to the theft of Iran's very own oil," the Iranian Mission to the United Nations said in a statement shared with Newsweek. "Adhering to the established legal procedures is the most prudent approach for the resolution of this matter."

Reports emerged early Thursday that a ship later identified by maritime traffic monitors as the Marshall Islands-flagged St Nikolas had been boarded by unidentified armed men in military style uniforms while transiting the Gulf of Oman. Iranian media confirmed the operation shortly thereafter and said the ship was being brought to port in southern Iran.

A spokesperson for U.K.-based public relations firm MTI Network told Newsweek that Empire Navigation, the Greek company that manages the St Nikolas, "has not had any contact with the vessel or any other party since approx. 06:30 Athens time today" and that its "main concern and upmost priority is the safety of the crew," comprised of 18 Filippino nationals and one Greek citizen.

The ship was said to have been chartered by Turkish refinery company Tupras and traveling from the Persian Gulf port of Basra in southern Iraq to the Aegean Sea port of Aliaga in western Türkiye via the Suez Canal at the time of the incident.

The MTI Network spokesperson said Empire Navigation "has notified the pertinent authorities from the first moment and is in close and constant cooperation with them as well as with the crew members' next of kin."

Previously known as the Suez Rajan, the St Nikolas was seized by the U.S. last year, along with around 980,000 barrels of crude Iranian oil, as part of an effort to enforce U.S.-imposed sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy commander Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri vowed last July to hold the U.S. responsible should the ship's oil be unloaded, which reportedly occurred in Texas in August.

In October, Empire Navigation published a notice on its website of a "deferred prosecution agreement" reached with the U.S. Justice Department over the alleged sanctions violation committed by the vessel then known as the Suez Rajan in transporting Iranian oil.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby condemned Iran's seizure of the St Nikolas and called upon Tehran to "immediately release the ship and its crew."

"These provocative and unacceptable actions need to stop," Kirby said during the press briefing. "We'll continue to work with our allies and partners to deter and confront the full range of Iran's concerning and destabilizing behavior in close coordination, of course, with the international community."

Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment.

The latest Iranian operation came amid already high-rising tensions in the region. The U.S. formed an international coalition last month to counter ongoing attacks being launched by the Iran-aligned Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, against allegedly Israel-linked commercial vessels operating off the coast of Yemen in response to the ongoing war in Gaza.

On Tuesday, U.S. and U.K. military officials said their warships deployed to the region thwarted the largest missile and drone attack to date against merchant vessels in the Red Sea. Earlier this month, the two nations and 10 other coalition partners—Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand—warned that Ansar Allah would "bear the responsibility of the consequences" of its actions.

Ansar Allah military spokesperson Yahya Saree described the attack Tuesday as a large-scale joint naval, missile and drone force operation "targeting an American ship that was providing support to the Zionist entity" in response to the U.S. attacking an Ansar Allah vessel as it reportedly fired at a container ship in the Red Sea late last month.

Saree warned that Ansar Allah's forces "will not hesitate to deal appropriately with all hostile threats within the right of legitimate defense of our country, our people, and our nation."

Iran has denied offering Ansar Allah military assistance but has praised the group's actions and has de facto recognized it as the legitimate government of Yemen. The group took control of the capital Sanaa and large parts of the country's northeast nine years ago amid a civil war that is currently in a state of ceasefire but remains active with no lasting resolution.

The conflict in Yemen has been one of many sore points in the U.S.-Iran relations, which have deteriorated significantly since 2018, when then-President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would be abandoning a multilateral nuclear deal forged with Iran and major world powers under his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. President Joe Biden, who served as vice president to Obama, set out to reenter the deal but negotiations have been largely stalled since summer of 2022.

Unrest has worsened over the years both at sea, where Iran has seized a number of vessels accused of violating maritime law, as well as in Iraq and Syria, where militias supportive of the Tehran-backed "Axis of Resistance" have targeted U.S. troops. These attacks have played out on a near-daily basis since mid-October, shortly after the deadliest-ever war first erupted between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement.

This is a developing news story. More information will be added as it becomes available.