Iran seizes second oil tanker in a week, US Navy says

The US Navy said Iranian forces captured a foreign vessel on Wednesday, the second to be harassed and seized by the Middle Eastern country in a week.

The Panama-flagged commercial oil tanker Niovi was passing through the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman when Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) seized it.

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This still image from video released by the US Navy shows the Panama-flagged oil tanker Neovi surrounded by Iranian Revolutionary Guard ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. The US Navy said Wednesday’s capture was the second in recent days by Tehran. (US Navy via AP)

About 12 members of the IRGCN swarmed and surrounded Niovi via fast assault craft. The IRGCN then forced the crew to turn the ship around and return to Iranian territorial waters.

The Panamanian oil tanker was on its way from Dubai to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates when it was intercepted.

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Declassified video footage released by the US Navy shows an aerial view of the Iranian operation.

This is the second illegal seizure of a foreign vessel by Iran in less than a week.

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In this frame from video footage released by the Iranian Navy on Friday, April 28, 2023, Iranian marines rappel on the deck of the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker, Advantage Suite, in the Gulf of Oman. (Iranian Navy via AP)

The Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Advantage Sweet was taken over by Iranian forces after leaving Kuwait last week on the way to houstonThe US Navy announced on Sunday.

Video of Advantage Suite incident shows Iranian military approaching oil tanker via helicopter gulf of oman,