UK Naval Intelligence Reports ‘Potential Hijack’ Ongoing in Gulf of Oman
The UKMTO warned of a “potential hijack” of a ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman, without elaborating.

The UKMTO warned of a “potential hijack” of a ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman, without elaborating.

Western intelligence sources told Fox News on Tuesday that Iran has dispatched another oil tanker to Syria in defiance of U.S. sanctions. Meanwhile, the first sanctions-busting ship was leased to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in another apparent gesture of defiance to the United States.

The U.S. State Department on Monday warned Greece not to allow the Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1 to dock because the ship is carrying “illicit oil to fuel the Iranian regime’s and Syrian regime’s campaigns of terror and oppression.” Greek officials insisted they have not received a request from the tanker for docking, even though its destination appears to be the Greek port of Kalamata.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry warned of “heavy consequences” on Monday should the United States seize an oil tanker recently released by Gilbraltar after being impounded for six weeks.

Ukrainian state security forces detained a Russian oil tanker in the port of Izmail on Wednesday, seizing documents and questioning the crew before releasing them. Ukraine said the action was taken due to the Russian ship’s involvement in the November 2018 Kerch Strait confrontation, which ended with Russia seizing a Ukrainian ship and imprisoning its 24 crew members.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Sunday that Iran’s arguments for seizing a British-flagged oil tanker on Friday are “much more right than those of Gibraltar and London, who are indulging in piracy.”

After a week of insisting it merely assisted a vessel in distress by bringing it to a safe harbor, Iran on Thursday admitted its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States – seized a foreign oil tanker and took its crew prisoner.

A senior adviser to the Iranian government said on Friday that war is “inevitable” if the United States does not lift sanctions against Iran.

Fuel shortages in the oil-rich country of Venezuela continue to worsen as mass resignations at the state oil company’s tanker fleet cause the delay gasoline shipments
