US Navy photo
- A dozen Iranian attack boats seized an oil tanker crossing through Middle Eastern waters on Wednesday.
- The US Navy shared a video of the incident, which showed the boats swarm the vessel.
- It is the second time in less than a week that Iranian forces intercepted an international ship.
A dozen Iranian fast-attack boats swarmed and seized an oil tanker that was transiting waters in the Middle East on Wednesday, the US Navy said in a statement accompanying a video of the incident. It marks the second time in less than a week this has happened.
The 1,100-foot-long Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi departed Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and was on its way to the port city of Fujairah, when the incident unfolded at around 6:20 a.m. local time.
Niovi was crossing the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow passage of water that separates the Arabian Peninsula from Iran — when it was swarmed by a dozen fast-attack boats belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN), US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) said in a statement.
Drone footage shared by the US Navy shows the Niovi sailing by itself when several small boats suddenly approach the vessel from behind and swarm its sides.
IRGCN boats forced the Niovi into Iran's territorial waters off the the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
Wednesday's incident marked the second time in just six days that Iranian forces seized an international vessel. On April 27, Iranian navy vessels intercepted the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Advantage Sweet as it was crossing international waters in the Gulf of Oman, a body of water that separates Oman from Iran.
The US Navy said last week that Iran has "unlawfully seized" at least five commercial ships transiting Middle Eastern waters.
Screengrab via US Navy video
"Iran's actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability. Over the past two years, Iran has harassed, attacked or interfered with the navigational rights of 15 internationally flagged merchant vessels," the US Navy said on Wednesday.
"Iran's continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional waters are unwarranted, irresponsible and a present threat to maritime security and the global economy," it continued.
Washington has accused Tehran of jeopardizing regional stability on multiple occasions over the past few months. Western militaries have carried out several raids of boats attempting to smuggle weapons from Iran to a brutal proxy war in Yemen, seizing huge amounts of guns, explosives, and ammunition.
Middle East and Iran experts told Insider that these interceptions are a coordinated and calculated effort to try and pressure Iran and curb its malign plans in the region as tensions continue to rise between the West and Iran over its nuclear program.
Meanwhile, US forces operating in Syria have been caught in deadly exchanges of fire with Iran-backed militias in recent weeks. The spike in violence has prompted the US Air Force to deploy its decades-old A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft on a new mission to the region and arm the planes with more bombs for added firepower.