US urges Iran to immediately release seized oil tanker, crew

The United States (US) on Thursday, January 11, called on Iran to immediately release an oil tanker it seized off the coast of Oman, Reuters reported.

US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters, “The Iranian government must release the ship and its crew immediately. This illegal seizure is the latest or Iran-facilitated action aimed at obstructing international trade.”

On Thursday, Iran’s navy said it seized a St Nikolas, a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel, in retaliation for the US’s oil confiscation from the same ship in 2023, IRNA reported.

Iran’s navy seized what it calls “a US oil tanker” on Thursday in the Sea of Oman that once was at the center of a major crisis between Tehran and Washington, officials told AP.
The vessel was once known as the Suez Rajan and had been involved in a yearlong dispute that… pic.twitter.com/CQtXtdeUJ6

— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) January 11, 2024

The seizure coincides with ongoing attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militias on Red Sea shipping routes.

The St. Nikolas vessel, carrying 145,000 metric tons of oil, departed from Basra, Iraq, and was en route to Aliaga, Turkey.

In September 2023, the US seized a tanker under the name Suez Rajan during sanctions enforcement, resulting in the seizure of nearly one million barrels of Iranian crude oil.

At that time, Iran issued a warning to the US that it would not go unanswered.