Iran seizes second oil tanker in a week amid US confrontation

US Navy says several Iranian vessels approached the tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and forced it into Iranian waters.

Iran has seized an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in what is the second such incident in the region in a week, as tension with the United States continues.

The Middle East-based US 5th Fleet and Iranian media confirmed on Wednesday that the naval force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stopped a tanker in the busy waterway.

A video released by the 5th Fleet appeared to show about a dozen fast-attack IRGC vessels approaching a tanker that was identified as the Panama-flagged Niovi. The US said the tanker was forced to reverse course into Iranian territorial waters during the “unlawful seizure”.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency confirmed that the vessel had been seized by the IRGC, but did not add further details.

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported that the Tehran prosecutor has said the seizure was the result of a judicial order, following a complaint by a plaintiff.

The IRGC did not immediately confirm the name of the vessel or why it was stopped.