On 15th November, Iran affirmed that the tanker carrying a cargo of petrochemicals bound for Singapore was captured by the Revolutionary Guards of Iran in the Gulf waters due to allegedly violating its waters. Iranian state media confirmed this.

On Friday, a US official and maritime security sources had reported that the Iranian forces had intercepted the oil products tanker and turned it into Iranian territorial waters. It was an initial report of Tehran taking over a tanker since the Israeli-American attacks on Iran in June.

Iranian state-run television broadcast a message from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that said the tanker was violating the law by carrying unauthorized cargo. It has not given additional information about the supposed violations.

The 65,000 dwt Talara, flagged in the Marshall Islands, was sailing in the waters off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, and was carrying a high-sulfur gasoil cargo, heading to Singapore via the Indian Ocean and passing Sharjah, UAE.

According to Columbia Shipmanagement, which managed the vessel, it lost the ship on Friday morning, about 20 nautical miles off the coast of Khor Fakkan, UAE. It also stated that it was in close collaboration with the relevant authorities, maritime security agencies, and the owner of the vessel to regain contact.

Pasha Finance is a Cyprus-based company that owns the ship.

The US military, in a statement, responded to assert that it was not ignorant of the incident and was closely observing the situation.

In recent years, the IRGC has periodically seized commercial vessels in the waters of the Gulf, frequently invoking violations of the maritime right, such as alleged smuggling, technical, or legal violations.

The US official, however, who was speaking anonymously, said that the incident was surprising because Iran had not conducted any such operations over the past few months.

Ever since the 12-day Israeli bombing spurt in June with the involvement of the United States, Iran has suppressed its military operations in the region. Its most recent hijack of a ship occurred in April 2024.