Tehran claims to have hijacked an American oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman. Several sources reported earlier that gunmen stormed a ship.

The Islamic regime in Iran claimed responsibility for the hijacking of an American oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman. As the regime's Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday, the tanker had been „confiscated.” The agency stated that the basis was on instructions from the Iranian judiciary. This is subordinate to the country's leadership in Tehran.

The German News Agency had previously reported that a Greek tanker flying the Marshall Islands flag was hijacked in waters 50 nautical miles east of Oman, according to the British Maritime Authority UKMTO. Armed men boarded the Marshall Islands-flagged ship and apparently set its course toward Iran. The Greek shipping company Empire Navigation in Athens also confirmed the incident. Accordingly, a crew of 19 people are said to be on board the ship, including 18 sailors from the Philippines and one Greek sailor. It is currently unclear whether this is the same ship reported by Iranian news agency Tasnim.

British maritime security company Ambrey said that the tanker's tracking system was turned off while it was heading towards the Iranian port of Bandar Jask. The tanker was loaded in the Iraqi port of Basra and was heading to the Turkish port of Aliaga.

UKMTO said the gunmen were wearing black uniforms and masks. The tanker's senior security officer said that the ship changed its course towards Iranian territorial waters. And then the connection was cut off. The US Navy's Fifth Fleet, active in the region, did not initially comment on this information.

According to the TankerTrackers locator service, the tanker is said to be „Saint Nicholas”. The US Navy confiscated the ship in 2023 for violating the sanctions, and it was then called “Swiss Ragan.” The United States then accused the Revolutionary Guards of the Islamic regime in Iran of trying to smuggle oil to China via the tanker. They confiscated 980 thousand barrels of oil. After unloading the crude oil, the ship's name was changed to „Saint Nicholas.”

The incident contributes to uncertainty about commercial shipping in the region. The Houthis, backed by the Islamic regime in Iran, have been attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea since October in order to support the fight against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip. They focus their attacks on the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the intersection of the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. They also already hijacked an oil tanker. The now hijacked tanker was hijacked much further to the east, not far from the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea.

It is not clear whether Tasnim is talking about the same tanker as the Greek shipping company. One thing is clear: Tehran claims to have hijacked an American oil tanker. It is also unclear whether the regime used its relationship with the Houthis or deployed its Revolutionary Guards. However, the Islamic regime's Revolutionary Guard is also adept at such actions: according to one report, it is itself responsible for training Houthi rebels. This was reported by the British newspaper „UK Telegraph” on Thursday, citing several defense sources. Accordingly, about 200 members of the Houthi rebels allied with the regime in Iran were trained at an “elite Iranian naval academy.”

The newspaper also quotes sources saying that the Supreme Religious and Political Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, played a “personal role” in the Houthis’ activities in the Red Sea. He is said to have ordered the delivery of additional weapons and equipment to the rebel group.