The United States believes a group of Iranians boarded the Panama-flagged Asphalt Princess tanker off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, an apparent hijacking that occurred less than a week after Iran was blamed for a deadly drone attack on another ship.
"We can confirm that personnel have left the Panama-flagged Asphalt Princess, this commercial vessel that was seized yesterday. We believe that these personnel were Iranian, but we're not in a position to confirm this at this time,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told a press briefing on Wednesday.