A stop-and-board operation by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps. helped it seize a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday.
It was the second-such capture by Tehran in under a week amid heightened tensions over its nuclear program.
AP reports the U.S. Navy published surveillance footage shot by an aerial drone of about dozen Guard speed boats swarming the tanker around 6:20 a.m.
The drone had been on a routine patrol in the area and saw the seizure, though the Navy did not receive a distress call from the Niovi itself, 5th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins said.
Those vessels “forced the oil tanker to reverse course and head toward Iranian territorial waters off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran,” the Navy said.
Iran is increasingly using the tactic of swarming fast-attack watercraft to overwhelm both civilian and foreign warships in areas it deems to be its own, as Breitbart News previously reported.
WATCH: Iran Speedboats Close on U.S. Navy Warship
U.S. Naval Forces Central Command / U.S. 5th FleetThe Iranian government has a fondness for modified ski boats specially equipped for the task, having an estimated 2000 in their naval forces.
“Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability,” the 5th Fleet said in a statement referencing the latest example.
“Iran’s continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional waters are unwarranted, irresponsible and a present threat to maritime security and the global economy.”
Last week, Iran seized an oil tanker carrying crude for Chevron Corp. of San Ramon, California. amid wider tensions between Tehran and the U.S. over its nuclear program.
Iran General Hossein Salami said he seeks revenge against the U.S. that "will be hard, firm, regrettable, decisive and complete." https://t.co/9xWXPX0JEW
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) January 7, 2020
The Advantage Sweet had 23 Indians and one Russian on board.
The Navy statement further outlined Iran has harassed, attacked or interfered with the navigational rights of 15 internationally flagged merchant vessels in the region over the past two years.
About a fifth of the world’s crude oil and oil products passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow choke point between Iran and Oman.
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