Iran’s navy confirmed that its forces hijacked a laden tanker transiting the Gulf of Oman in reprisal for its owner’s cooperation with US authorities for seizing Iranian oil last year.
The move adds tension in Middle Eastern waters already troubled by Iran-backed Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea against commercial ships associated with Israel and its Western allies.
TradeWinds already reported earlier on Thursday about a dawn raid on the 159,000-dwt St Nikolas (built 2011) by a masked group of armed assailants who boarded the ship owned by Greece’s Empire Navigation.
