Oil Tanker Completely Disappears After Getting Near Iran
A Panamanian-flagged oil tanker disappeared Saturday night as it made its way through the ever-increasingly dangerous Strait of Hormuz.
The Riah — a 190-foot tanker based in the United Arab Emirates — stopped transmitting its location around 11 p.m. as it moved into Iranian waters, Fox News reported.
While it’s unclear what happened to the ship, the disappearance is raising concerns as tensions between the United States and Iran continue to mount.
The oil tanker typically makes trips from Dubai and Sharjah before moving through the Strait of Hormuz as it heads to Fujairah.
Capt. Ranjith Raja of the data firm Refinitiv said that the oil tanker hasn’t switched off its tracking in three months, the Associated Press reported. “That is a red flag,” he said.
It appeared, however, that both Iranian officials and officials in the UAE were staying silent on the disappearance of the tanker.
However, on Tuesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised statement that it would retaliate for the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker by British forces earlier this month, the Associated Press reported.
“God willing, the Islamic Republic and its committed forces will not leave this evil without a response,” he said.
Jeremy Hunt, British secretary of state for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, said that Britain would have the ship returned if Iran promised not to breach European sanctions regarding oil shipments to Syria.
Oil tankers have increasingly become the target of several attacks in or near the Strait of Hormuz.
Last week, Iranian vessels tried to block an oil tanker entering the Strait but quickly backed off after the British Navy warned them and trained their 30mm guns on them.
Similarly, two oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman last month.
While Iran denied any involvement in the attacks, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed the Iranian regime was behind the attacks.
“It is the assessment of the United States government that the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the attacks that occurred in the Gulf of Oman today,” Pompeo said in a news conference following the attacks.
“Taken as a whole, these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation and an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension by Iran,” he added.
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