Iran again denies involvement in Gulf maritime incident
The British military said a bitumen tanker off the coast of the UAE experienced a "potential hijacking," prompting a denial from Iran. Israel and the UK also blamed Iran for a drone attack last week that killed two crew members on an oil tanker.
Maritime tensions involving Iran, Israel and Western states escalated further Tuesday when the British military reported a bitumen tanker may have been hijacked. Iran promptly denied involvement.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported the “incident” off the coast of the Emirati city of Fujairah. The operations center later said the event was a “potential hijack” without providing further details, The Associated Press reported. Reuters, quoting maritime security sources, later said the Panamanian-flagged tanker Asphalt Princess had been seized by Iranian-backed forces.
The ship was in the Gulf of Oman between Oman and Iran late Tuesday night, according to the maritime tracking website MarineTraffic. The tanker set sail from Khor Fakkan in the the United Arab Emirates and was en route to the Omani city of Sohar, per the website.
The incident followed an attack on the Japanese-owned, Liberian-flagged oil tanker Mercer Street on Thursday that killed two crew members: one British and one Romanian. The ship is managed by the United Kingdom-based company Zodiac Maritime, which is owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer. Both Israel and the UK subsequently blamed Iran for the incident, and said it was a drone attack. Iran summoned British and Romanian diplomats in response.
