Iran seizes second oil tanker in a week, US Navy says

Iranian forces captured a foreign vessel on Wednesday, the second ship to be harassed and seized by the Middle Eastern country in a week, the U.S. Navy said.

The Niovi, a commercial oil tanker flying the Panama flag, was passing through the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman when it was overtaken by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN).

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This still image from video released by the U.S. Navy shows the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi surrounded by Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels in the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday, May 3, 2023. Iran seized a Panama-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the second-such capture by Tehran in recent days, the U.S. Navy said.  (U.S. Navy via AP)

Approximately 12 members of the IRGCN swarmed and bordered the Niovi via fast-attack craft. The IRGCN then forced the crew to turn the ship around and sail back into Iranian territorial waters.

The Panama oil tanker was transiting from Dubai to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates when it was captured.

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Video footage declassified and released by the U.S. Navy captures an aerial view of the Iranian operation.

This is Iran’s second unlawful seizure of a foreign vessel in less than a week.

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In this frame grab from video footage released Friday, April 28, 2023, by the Iranian Navy, Iranian marines rappel onto the Advantage Sweet, a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker’s deck in the Gulf of Oman. (Iranian Navy via AP)

The Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Advantage Sweet was taken last week by Iranian forces after leaving Kuwait en route to Houston, the U.S. Navy announced Sunday.

Video of the Advantage Sweet incident showed Iranian forces approaching the oil tanker via helicopter as it travels through the Gulf of Oman.