The US military has confirmed that Iranian forces have seized the Advantage Sweet, a Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker chartered by Chevron carrying crude oil from Kuwait to Texas.
“Advantage Sweet was seized by the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy while transiting international waters in the Gulf of Oman. The oil tanker issued a distress call during the seizure. US 5th Fleet is monitoring the situation,” CENTCOM said in its statement.
CENTCOM commander Michael ‘Erik’ Kurilla said the tanker’s detention was a violation “of the international rules-based order” by Iran, and claimed that the Islamic Republic’s “behavior” “places the security and stability of the Middle East at risk.”
Iranian media said Navy forces including the Bayandor corvette sailed out of Chabahar Port to intercept the Advantage Sweet in the Sea of Oman after the fishermen made a distress call. Iran’s Navy subsequently seized the tanker “in compliance with a confiscation order issued by Iranian judicial authorities.”
The tanker, operated by a 24-person crew of Indian nationals, was seized by about 1:15 pm local time on Thursday, according to the US military.
Iranian media later posted dramatic footage of the operation to seize the vessel, showing Iranian commandos armed with automatic weapons descending from a helicopter rope line onto the tanker’s deck and proceeding to secure it.
The Iranian military also confirmed that it picked up a US Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft snooping on the Iranian operation.
Also Friday, UK business media reported that the seizure of the Advantage Sweet followed in the wake of a recent US “sanctions enforcement” operation which forced the Suez Rajan, a tanker carrying Iranian crude to China, to redirect toward the United States. Tehran, which has faced Western sanctions for decades, has repeatedly condemned US efforts to strangulate the Islamic Republic’s economy.