Iran suspected as oil tanker ‘hijacked’ in Gulf of Oman

Iranian-backed forces were suspected last night of seizing an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, just days after Tehran was blamed for a drone attack on another ship that killed a British crew member.

The Royal Navy’s UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency warned of a suspected hijacking incident near the port of Fujairah in the UAE but did not give further details.

Soldiers reportedly stormed the tanker, believed to be the Asphalt Princess, a Panama-flagged vessel.

The asphalt and bitumen tanker was believed to be travelling to Sohar, a port on Oman’s northern coast, when it was attacked at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz yesterday afternoon.

The incident comes after Dominic Raab, the UK Foreign Secretary, accused Iran of a “deliberate, targeted, and a clear violation of international law” following a drone attack on the Liberian-flagged tanker MV Mercer Street last week.

Britain, the US and Israel say they are confident Iran was behind the attack, which killed a British security guard, and have pledged to retaliate.

There are growing concerns about increasingly aggressive Iranian actions in the Middle East, with Britain, the US, Israel and other nations in secret discussions about how to strike back. A British special forces team is understood to have been sent to the region and there is growing speculation that a cyber attack against Iran is being considered.

Naftali Bennett, the Israeli prime minister, yesterday called for an international response to the Mercer Street attack, but said he would be prepared to launch a unilateral strike if an alliance took too long to form.

“They can’t sit calmly in Tehran while igniting the entire Middle East – that’s over,” Mr Bennett said. “We are working to enlist the whole world, but when the time comes, we know how to act alone. Iran knows the price that we’ll exact when anyone threatens our security.”

He did not elaborate on what form Israeli retaliation might take. Israeli television said the country’s defence and foreign ministers would present “hard evidence” of Iranian complicity in last week’s tanker attack at a meeting of ambassadors of United Nations security council members today. Britain is also expected to send a letter to the security council blaming Iran for the attack on MV Mercer Street.

The escalation comes after the election of a new Iranian leader. Ebrahim Raisi, an ultra-conservative judge who was elected president in June, was inaugurated by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran yesterday morning.

Mr Raisi is known as a strict hardliner who opposed his reformist predecessor Hassan Rouhani’s policy of building bridges with the West. He has been sanctioned by the US over his alleged role in the massacre of hundreds of suspected militants in Iranian jails in the 1980s.

However, analysts say he may be interested in a pragmatic deal with the West if it leads to an end to US sanctions and allows him to address an economic crisis and associated social unrest. In his inaugural speech, Mr Raisi promised to lift “oppressive” American sanctions but would “not tie the nation’s standard of living to the will of foreigners”.

“We believe the people’s economic position is unfavourable because of the hostility of our enemies and because of the shortcomings and problems inside the country,” he said.

Last night’s apparent hijacking was already causing major disruption to one of the world’s most important shipping routes. Shortly after the UKMTO alert, four vessels in the same area reported they were “no longer under command,” a nautical term meaning they were unable to manoeuvre.

Iran’s foreign ministry said reports of the Asphalt Princess hijacking were “suspicious” and claimed they were an attempt to create a “false atmosphere” against Tehran. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps denied any involvement.

(© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2021)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]