The United States announced the capture of tankers by Iran: Washington sent more ships and aircraft

The United States is increasing its military presence in the Middle East, accusing Iran of seizing tankers. Tehran “has no excuse for these actions,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

The US military is working with allies to send more ships and planes to the Middle East as Iran ramps up its seizure of merchant tankers, the US National Security Council announced Friday.

“Today, the Department of Defense will take a series of steps to strengthen our defensive posture in the Persian Gulf,” NSC spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

The announcement, Politico reports, came after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hijacked the Panama-flagged Niovi oil tanker on May 3 as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The tanker left Dubai for a UAE port when a dozen IRGC Navy boats forced the tanker into Iranian waters.

Another incident occurred on April 27, when the Marshall Islands-owned tanker Advantage Sweet was also hijacked after colliding with an Iranian boat, injuring several crew members, Iranian state media reported.

The IRGC has attacked or disabled 15 tankers over the past two years as tensions between Iran and the US rise over the country’s nuclear program.

John Kirby said he would “provide more details about these reinforcements” within a few days. Washington will also step up its coordination with the International Maritime Safety Organization, an 11-nation group formed to help protect merchant shipping in the region.

The Iranian government “has no justification for these actions,” Kirby said, adding that the US “will not allow foreign or regional powers to jeopardize the freedom of navigation in the waterways of the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandab.”

Vice admiral. Brad Cooper, head of US Naval Central Command, also said in a statement that “Iran’s unwarranted, irresponsible and illegal seizure and harassment of merchant ships must stop.”

Last week, the Associated Press reported that, according to satellite photos, two oil tankers recently seized by Iran were anchored off the coast of one of its key port cities in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. Photos showed that the Sweet and Niovi tankers were located south of Bandar Abbas, near a naval base in a port city in the Iranian province of Hormozgan. Their capture represents only the latest takeover by Iran amid tensions with the West over its booming nuclear program, though it appears the two ships may have been seized for different reasons.

Iran seized the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel Advantage Sweet carrying 23 Indians and one Russian on April 27 while it was in the Gulf of Oman. Tehran claimed that the ship collided with another ship.

At the time of the hijacking, the Advantage Sweet was carrying Kuwaiti crude oil for US energy company Chevron Corp. from San Ramon, California. And its hijacking comes after another tanker believed to be carrying Iranian crude oil disappeared from Anchorage off the coast of Singapore a year after it was found to have been trying to circumvent US sanctions.

The Financial Times, as well as maritime intelligence firm Ambrey, reported that the vessel, called the Suez Rajan, was hijacked on orders from US authorities.

Satellite imagery showed a second ship, the Niovi, a Panama-flagged tanker that was hijacked by Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday as it left dry dock in Dubai bound for Fujairah on the UAE’s east coast. Although there was no cargo on board, data from S&P Global Market Intelligence seen by the Associated Press showed that the Niovi tanker received oil from a vessel then known as Oman Pride in July 2020.

The U.S. Treasury Department in August 2021 sanctioned the Oman Pride and others associated with the vessel for being “involved in an international oil smuggling network” that supported the Quds Force, the Revolutionary Guard expeditionary unit operating in the Middle East. reports the Associated Press. The Greek Coast Guard said Greek, Filipino and Sri Lankan sailors were on board the Niovi.