DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran seized a Panama-flagged oil tanker within the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the second-such seize by Tehran in current days, the U.S. Navy mentioned.

The Navy’s Mideast-based fifth Fleet recognized the vessel because the Niovi. It mentioned Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized the ship.

The Navy revealed photos of a dozen Guard vessels surrounding the tanker. Those ships “forced the oil tanker to reverse course and head toward Iranian territorial waters off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran,” the Navy mentioned.

“Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability,” the fifth Fleet mentioned in a press release. “Iran’s continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional waters are unwarranted, irresponsible and a present threat to maritime security and the global economy.”

Iran didn't instantly acknowledge the seizure.

Last week, Iran seized an oil tanker carrying crude for Chevron amid wider tensions between Tehran and the U.S. over its nuclear program. The Advantage Sweet had 23 Indians and one Russian on board.

Wednesday’s seizure by Iran was the newest in a string of ship seizures and explosions to roil the area.

The incidents started after then-President Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Iran’s nuclear take care of world powers, which noticed Tehran drastically restrict its enrichment of uranium in trade for the lifting of financial sanctions.

Also, the U.S. Navy has blamed Iran for a sequence of limpet mine assaults on vessels that broken tankers in 2019, in addition to for a deadly drone assault on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021.

Tehran denies finishing up the assaults, however a wider shadow battle between Iran and the West has performed out within the area’s unstable waters. Iranian tanker seizures have been part of it since 2019. The final main seizure earlier than current days got here when Iran took two Greek tankers in May and held them till November.

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