Iran’s navy seizes US-bound tanker in Gulf of Oman

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s navy seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday amid wider tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program, the latest such capture in a waterway crucial for global energy supplies.

The US Navy’s Mideast-based Fifth Fleet identified the vessel as the Advantage Sweet, registered in the Marshall Islands. Satellite tracking data for the vessel from MarineTraffic.com showed it in the Gulf of Oman, just north of Oman’s capital, Muscat, on Thursday afternoon. It had just come from Kuwait and listed its destination as Houston, Texas.

The Advantage Sweet issued a distress call at 1:15 p.m. while in international waters as Iran seized the vessel, the Navy said.

“Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability,” the Fifth Fleet said in a statement. “Iran should immediately release the oil tanker.”

The Fifth Fleet said the Iranian seizure was at least the fifth commercial vessel taken by Tehran in the last two years.