(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Tehran ~ Iran on Saturday confirmed the seizure of a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker as it travelled through the narrow Strait of Hormuz over violations, including carrying an illegal consignment, state media reported.

A report by the official Irna news agency carried a statement by the Revolutionary Guard that said the tanker was taken to Iranian waters. It did not elaborate on the“illegal consignment” or the crew or say where the ship was now heading.

It said the seizure came following a court order, and the operation was aimed at“protecting Iran's national interests and resources.” It identified the oil tanker as the Talara and said it was carrying 30,000 tonnes of petrochemical products.

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The seizure happened on Friday.

Tehran has been increasingly warning it could strike back after a 12-day war with Israel in June that saw the US strike Iranian nuclear sites.

The IRGC Navy said in a statement that the“operation was carried out in line with legal duties and for the protection of the national interests and resources of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

It noted that the vessel, its cargo, and documents had been fully investigated, and that the tanker was guilty of“carrying unauthorised cargo.”It said the ship had been en route to Singapore when Iranian forces intercepted.

A US Navy MQ-4C Triton drone had been circling above the area where the Talara was for hours on Friday, observing the seizure, flight-tracking data analysed by The Associated Press showed.

US officials said that the Talara had been travelling from Ajman, United Arab Emirates, onwards to Singapore when IRGC forces intercepted it off the Makran Coast.

The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre separately acknowledged the incident, saying a possible“state activity” forced the Talara to turn into Iranian territorial waters.

Cyprus-based Columbia Shipmanagement later said in a statement that it had“lost contact” with the tanker, which was carrying high sulphur gasoil. It did not immediately provide any update on Saturday.

Iran has been blamed for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021.

Those attacks began after US President Donald Trump, in his first term in office, unilaterally withdrew from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

In May 2022, IRGC forces seized two Greek tankers and held them until November of that year for violations. They also took the Portuguese-flagged cargo ship MSC Aries in the Strait of Hormuz in April 2024.

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