WASHINGTON/DUBAI (Reuters) -Iranian forces intercepted an oil products tanker and diverted it into Iranian territorial waters on Friday, a U.S. official and maritime security sources said, the first report of Tehran seizing a tanker since Israeli-U.S. strikes on Iran in June.
The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, the Talara, had been sailing off the United Arab Emirates’ coast, maritime sources said, and was carrying a cargo of high-sulphur gasoil through the Indian Ocean en route to Singapore from Sharjah in the UAE.
The U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident was surprising because Iran, known for intercepting ships in the Gulf in the past, had not carried out such operations in recent months.
Iran has curbed its military activities in the region since the 12-day Israeli bombing campaign in June, which was joined by the United States.
There was no official confirmation of the incident from Tehran, and the UAE and Iranian foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“Contact was lost at around 0822 local time (0422 UTC) on Friday … approximately 20 nautical miles off the coast of Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates,” the vessel’s manager Columbia Shipmanagement said in a statement, adding that it was working closely with relevant parties, including maritime security agencies and the vessel’s owner, to restore contact.
Columbia Shipmanagement did not provide further details.
The ship is owned by Cyprus-based Pasha Finance.
British Royal Navy agency UKMTO said the incident “is believed to be state activity; the vessel is transiting towards Iranian territorial waters”.
In a statement, the U.S. military said it was aware of the incident and was actively monitoring the situation.
The tanker was intercepted by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) at sea and redirected towards the Iranian coast, British maritime risk management group Vanguard and maritime security sources said.
Iran’s IRGC has periodically seized commercial vessels in Gulf waters in recent years, often citing maritime violations such as alleged smuggling, technical infractions or legal disputes.
The vessel last reported its position at around 0810 UTC and was sailing close to the Iranian coast, MarineTraffic ship tracking data showed on Friday.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington, Jonathan Saul in London, Jana Choukeir, Nayera Abdallah, Parisa Hafezi, Yousef Saba and Tala Ramadan in Dubai and Renee Maltezou in AthensEditing by Jan Harvey, Elaine Hardcastle, Peter Graff)
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