Indonesia seizes Iranian-flagged oil tanker for "illegal" actions

Indonesian maritime authorities announced on Tuesday the seizure of an Iranian-flagged oil tanker carrying over 200,000 tons of oil suspected of being involved in an "illicit" transfer operation at sea.

The United States imposes sanctions on Iran's oil exports and accuses Tehran of circumventing these sanctions through various means in maritime passages in the Gulf and other regions around the world, including transferring oil from one tanker to another at sea to obscure its origin.

The Indonesian Maritime Security Agency suspected that the vessel "MT Arman 114," flying the flag of the Islamic Republic, was engaged in "illicit shipping activities" in Jakarta's exclusive economic zone.

In a statement, they reported that the tanker was seized on Friday after authorities discovered it was involved in a suspicious transfer of its cargo to the tanker "MTS Tinos," which flies the flag of Cameroon.

They confirmed that both ships were "caught in the act of conducting illicit transfers of a shipment of crude oil."

They noted that the Iranian vessel had 28 Syrians on board, consisting of the crew members and three other passengers, along with a cargo of 272,568 tons of light crude oil valued at tens of millions of dollars.

The statement further explained that the Iranian vessel initially refused to respond to communication attempts by Indonesian authorities, deactivated its information systems, and did not display its flag. As the authorities approached it, the vessel attempted to flee before being pursued into Malaysia's exclusive economic zone.

Indonesian authorities did not directly accuse Tehran or the Iranian government of being directly involved in the operation.

The countries signed a trade exchange agreement in May during a visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Jakarta.

Last week, the US Department of Defense announced that its naval forces thwarted two attempts by Iranian forces to seize oil tankers in international waters off the coast of Oman, stating that in one of these attempts, the Iranians fired shots at a tanker.

On Thursday, Washington announced that the Revolutionary Guards had detained a commercial ship "suspected of being involved in smuggling activities" in international waters in the Gulf region.

Oil exports were a significant source of revenue for Iran before 2018 when the United States unilaterally withdrew from the international agreement on Iran's nuclear program signed in 2015 during the presidency of Donald Trump and reimposed harsh sanctions.

The issue of oil has been a point of contention between the two sides, with Washington accusing Tehran of evading sanctions to export its oil to countries such as China, Syria, and Venezuela.

In recent years, Washington and Tehran have exchanged accusations over a series of incidents in the Gulf waters.

In November 2021, the Revolutionary Guards announced the release of a Vietnamese tanker after retrieving its cargo of oil belonging to the Islamic Republic. The vessel had been detained for about two weeks following what the Guards claimed was an American attempt to seize the oil. However, Washington denied these claims, stating that its naval forces merely monitored an Iranian naval operation to seize an oil tanker and transport it to Iranian territorial waters.




AFP