Iran seized a Cyprus-registered fuel tanker, shipping companies said, its first such interdiction in the Strait of Hormuz in more than a year.
The seizure of the tanker Talara, which was carrying diesel fuel from the United Arab Emirates to Singapore, comes amid a still unresolved standoff between Tehran and the West over Iran’s nuclear program.
Iranian authorities have yet to explain the seizure. Iran’s Foreign Ministry didn’t return a request for comment. An Iranian diplomat confirmed the seizure but said the detention could be related to a breach in Iranian laws.
The U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for the Middle East, said it was aware of the incident and actively monitoring developments.
“Commercial vessels are entitled to largely unimpeded rights of navigation and commerce on the high seas,” Centcom said.
Such incidents are rare, but Iran has previously threatened to seize ships or close the strategic waterway at times of political tension.
The Marshall Islands-flagged Talara stopped communicating at 8:22 a.m. local time Friday, the ship’s Cyprus-based manager, Columbia Shipmanagement, said.
After crossing the Strait of Hormuz into the Indian Ocean, the tanker was intercepted by the naval branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps., a hard-line and politically powerful Iranian paramilitary force, according to Vanguard Tech, a U.K. maritime-security firm, and a European security official.
Ambrey, another security company, said the vessel had been approached by three small boats before making an abrupt turn toward Iran’s shores. The vessel headed in the direction of Bandar-e-Jask, which hosts a facility controlled by the IRGC navy, before switching off its radio signal, according to commodities-data company Kpler.
Columbia, the ship’s manager, said it had notified authorities and was working with maritime-security agencies to restore contact with the vessel.
A third of the world’s seaborne oil transits the Strait of Hormuz.
In 2019, the U.S. accused Iran of carrying out a string of attacks on commercial ships in the area that jacked up insurance costs and forced vessels to reroute. The incidents came after the Trump administration banned Iranian oil purchases following the U.S. decision to withdraw from a 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated by the Obama administration.
Iran has long threatened to close off the Strait of Hormuz but has rarely targeted shipping in recent years. In April 2024, it seized the Portuguese-registered containership MSC Aries, alleging it was linked to Israel. Iran released the ship in June.
Iran fought a 12-day war with Israel over the summer, after Israel attacked Iran with airstrikes and intelligence operations in an effort to set back its nuclear program. Iran has denied trying to make a nuclear weapon, but the U.S. says it was building the capability to make one in a matter of months.
The fight ended with a U.S.-brokered cease-fire. But talks to rein in Iran’s nuclear program and prevent a resumption of hostilities have gone nowhere.
The Houthis, an Iran-backed Yemeni militia, has attacked dozens of commercial ships around the Red Sea in the wake of the war in Gaza. The group has said it would abide by a cease-fire the U.S. brokered last month between Israel and Hamas.
