Iran seizes second oil tanker in a week, US Navy says

Iranian forces captured a foreign vessel on Wednesday, the second ship to be harassed and seized by the Middle Eastern country in a week, the U.S. Navy said.

The Niovi, a commercial oil tanker flying the Panama flag, was passing through the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman when it was overtaken by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN).

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Approximately 12 members of the IRGCN swarmed and bordered the Niovi via fast-attack craft. The IRGCN then forced the crew to turn the ship around and sail back into Iranian territorial waters.

The Panama oil tanker was transiting from Dubai to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates when it was captured.

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Video footage declassified and released by the U.S. Navy captures an aerial view of the Iranian operation.

This is Iran’s second unlawful seizure of a foreign vessel in less than a week.

The Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Advantage Sweet was taken last week by Iranian forces after leaving Kuwait en route to Houston, the U.S. Navy announced Sunday.

Video of the Advantage Sweet incident showed Iranian forces approaching the oil tanker via helicopter as it travels through the Gulf of Oman.