Iran Says It Thwarted U.S. Attempt to Seize Gulf Oil Cargo
(Bloomberg) --
Iran said its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stopped a U.S. attempt to seize a shipment of Iranian oil in the Gulf of Oman last month, in an operation involving speed boats and helicopters.
State television said U.S. naval forces had escorted a vessel carrying Iranian crude and transferred its cargo to a second ship when the IRGC intervened, taking control of the second vessel and bringing it to Iran. The ship arrived at the port of Bandar Abbas at 8 a.m. local time on Oct. 25, according to a statement on the IRGC’s news portal sepahnews.com.
A spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which is based in the Persian Gulf, said the report was being investigated but wasn’t able to immediately comment.
A video tweeted by Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations, claiming to show the incident, included military speed boats approaching two large vessels in the distance. Neither are clearly identifiable.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
