From gCaptain, January 11:
In the latest development of an ongoing series of incidents, Iran has seized a tanker in the Gulf of Oman, further escalating tensions in the region.
The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, St Nikolas, was boarded by Iranian Navy today as it sailed in the Gulf of Oman carrying Iraqi crude oil destined for Turkey. Its AIS tracking system has since been turned off and it is reportedly now heading towards the Iranian port of Bandar-e-Jask.
This incident is seemingly connected to the confiscation of an Iranian oil cargo from the ship by the United States last year under a deal reached between the U.S. Justice Department and the ship’s operator, Greece-based Empire Navigation Inc.
Currently, the St Nikolas is loaded with 145,000 metric tonnes (~1 million barrels) of oil, which was loaded in the Iraqi port of Basra and was bound for Aliaga in western Turkey. Turkey’s Tupras has confirmed that the ship is carrying oil it had purchased from Iraqi state oil company SOMO.
Iranian state media has reportedly said today’s seizure is in retaliation to the “theft” of Iranian oil by the United States last year.
Background
In April 2023, the U.S. carried out a sanctions enforcement operation resulting in the seizure of the tanker, previously known as the Suez Rajan, in the South China Sea near Singapore, as the the ship was loaded with over 980,000 barrels of Iranian crude oil belonging to the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
At some point following the seizure, the ship was brought to the U.S. where it waited off the coast of Texas for more than two-and-a-half months amid fears of retaliation before the oil was finally discharged. A senior commander from the IRGC navy warned Iran would retaliate against any oil company unloading Iranian oil from a seized tanker.
Almost immediately after the seizure of the Suez Rajan, Iran retaliated by seizing two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, namely the Advantage Sweet and Niovi, which it continues to hold to this day....
....MUCH MORE
Senator John McCain used to sing "Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran" to the tune of the Beach Boys Barbara Ann.In his later years he became kind of mean and nasty, and along with Senator Lindsey Graham something of a warmonger but looking back on Iran-U.S. relations since the Persians took the American embassy employees hostage, I sort of see his point with the song.
