Iran Retaliates by Seizing American Tanker in Gulf of Oman

Amidst heightened geopolitical tensions, Iran took control of a U.S. tanker, the St. Nicholas, in the Gulf of Oman on a Thursday, in a direct response to the prior U.S. seizure of the same vessel, which resulted in the appropriation of an Iranian oil shipment.

The confrontation escalated in April 2023, when the United States directed the tanker, known as the Suez Rajan, to reroute to Texas under sanction enforcement pretenses while it was transporting 800,000 barrels of Iranian oil. The detained tanker lingered near the Texan coast for several months, with Iran threatening reprisal should the oil be offloaded and American companies wary of involvement. Eventually, in August 2023, the oil, valued at $56 million, was transshipped to another tanker.

Iranian state-affiliated Fars news agency disclosed that Iran's Navy of the Islamic Republic forcibly redirected the St. Nicholas to an Iranian port by a judicial mandate. The move was justified by Iran as a reaction to the 'theft' of its oil by the U.S. The targeted vessel was intercepting after it had received oil supplies in Basra, Iraq, and was en route to Aliaga, Turkey, through the Suez Canal.

Historically, the U.S. has undertaken the seizure and subsequent sale of tankers loaded with Iranian oil, claiming sanctions enforcement. This has led to a pattern of reciprocal actions, with Iran seizing vessels in retribution for U.S. measures. In the previous year, the U.S. intercepted an Iranian oil shipment in Greece with intentions to confiscate it. A Greek court opposed the move, but not before Iran detained two Greek tankers, which were later released following the judicial decree.

In an earlier incident during 2021, the U.S. government confiscated and sold roughly 2 million barrels of Iranian oil valued at $110 million from a tanker seized near the UAE. There have also been instances during the Trump administration where Iranian gas slated for Venezuela was taken and sold by the U.S.

Iran, tanker, seizure