Satellite photos present tankers Iran seized off Bandar Abbas

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Two oil tankers lately seized by Iran are anchored off the coast of certainly one of its key port cities on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, in response to satellite tv for pc pictures analyzed by The Associated Press on Sunday.

The pictures from Planet Labs PBC confirmed the Advantage Sweet and the Niovi being simply south of Bandar Abbas close to a naval base within the port metropolis in Iran’s Hormozgan province Saturday. Their seize represents simply the newest ship seizure carried out by Iran amid tensions with the West over its quickly advancing nuclear program, although it seems the 2 ships could have been taken for various causes.

Iran seized the Marshall Islands-flagged Advantage Sweet, staffed by 23 Indians and one Russian, on April 27 because it traveled within the Gulf of Oman. Tehran claimed the vessel had struck one other ship, although monitoring knowledge for the Advantage Sweet confirmed no erratic conduct on its journey. Iran has made claims previously over ship seizures to cowl for the vessels being taken to make use of as pawns in negotiations with the West.

The Advantage Sweet carried Kuwaiti crude oil for American power agency Chevron Corp. of San Ramon, California, on the time of its seize. And its seizure comes as one other tanker believed to be carrying Iranian crude disappeared from anchorage off Singapore a 12 months after being recognized as making an attempt to evade U.S. sanctions.

The Financial Times, in addition to the maritime intelligence agency Ambrey, each have reported that ship named Suez Rajan was seized by order of American authorities. U.S. officers and people related to the Suez Rajan haven’t responded to questions in regards to the tanker’s disappearance whereas on a westward path.

Satellite photos confirmed a second ship, the Niovi, a Panama-flagged tanker, which was seized by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday because it left a dry dock in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, sure for Fujairah on the UAE’s japanese coast. While not carrying any cargo, knowledge from S&P Global Market Intelligence seen by the AP confirmed the Niovi in July 2020 acquired oil from a ship identified then because the Oman Pride.

The U.S. Treasury in August 2021 sanctioned the Oman Pride and others related to the vessel over it being “involved in an international oil smuggling network” that supported the Quds Force, the expeditionary unit of the Revolutionary Guard that operates throughout the Mideast.

Separately, purported emails printed on-line by Wikiran, a web site that solicits leaked paperwork from the Islamic Republic, counsel that cargo carried by the Niovi was offered on to companies in China with out permission.

United Against a Nuclear Iran, which has tracked sanctioned crude shipments by Tehran, “strongly suspects the seizure of the Niovi is related to a dispute over a shipment of Iranian oil,” mentioned Claire Jungman, the chief of workers of the group. Iran has mentioned it seized the Niovi over an unspecified courtroom order in Tehran.

The managers of the Niovi didn’t reply repeated phone requires remark. The Greek Coast Guard have mentioned the Niovi was staffed by Greek, Filipino and Sri Lankan sailors.

Meanwhile Sunday, an web account describing itself as a bunch of hackers claimed accountability for allegedly taking down web sites related to Iran’s Foreign Ministry. The claims of the account GhyamSarnegouni, whose title in Farsi means “Rise to Overthrow,” weren’t instantly acknowledged by Iranian media.

However, the Foreign Ministry’s web site remained down for hours over what it known as “scheduled maintenance and upgrades.”

Cached variations of the web sites of Iranian diplomatic posts in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Munich, Germany, and Seoul, South Korea, appeared to have been defaced with a message in Farsi studying: “Death to Khamenei, Hail Rajavi.” Khamenei refers to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whereas Rajavi probably refers to Massoud Rajavi, the long-missing chief of the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or his spouse Maryam, who’s now the general public face of the group.