Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Seizes Tanker in Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Seizes Tanker in Strait of Hormuz
The Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi is surrounded by Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on May 3, 2023. U.S. Navy via AP
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the second such capture by Tehran in under a week amid heightened tensions over its nuclear program.

The taking of the oil tanker Niovi renewed concerns about Iran threatening maritime traffic in the strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all crude passes. It also comes amid the disappearance of a crude oil tanker in Southeast Asia believed to be carrying Iranian crude oil amid reports it may have been seized by the United States.