DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Navy mentioned Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker within the Gulf of Oman on Thursday amid wider tensions over Tehran‘s nuclear program.

The Navy’s Mideast-based fifth Fleet recognized the vessel because the Advantage Sweet. Satellite monitoring knowledge for the vessel from MarineTraffic.com confirmed it within the Gulf of Oman simply north of Oman’s capital, Muscat, on Thursday afternoon. It had simply come from Kuwait and listed its vacation spot as Houston, Texas.

“The oil tanker issued a distress call during the seizure,” the fifth Fleet mentioned. “Iran‘s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability. Iran should immediately release the oil tanker.”

The vessel’s homeowners couldn't be instantly reached for remark. Iran didn't instantly acknowledge the seizure and Iran’s mission to the United Nations didn't instantly reply to a request for remark.

Thursday’s seizure by Iran was the most recent in a string of hijackings and explosions to roil a area that features the Strait of Hormuz, the slim mouth of the Persian Gulf by which a fifth of all traded oil passes.

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

Also, the U.S. Navy has blamed Iran for a collection 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 warfare between Iran and the West has performed out within the area’s risky waters. Tanker seizures have been part of it since 2019.

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