An Outdated Video Showing Iran’s Seizure of an Oil Tanker in the Sea of Oman
The Claim
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard publishes a video of the seizure of an oil tanker in the Sea of Oman today.
News posted on
Emerging story
Recently, a video has gone viral on social media purporting to depict scenes released by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), showing their alleged recent seizure of an oil tanker in the Sea of Oman.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the claim and found it to be misleading. The video is outdated and not recently released by Iran depicting a seizure of an oil tanker in the Sea of Oman.
IRGC Seizes an Oil Tanker in Oman in 2021
The Iranian Fars News Agency's account on the X platform posted a video on November 3, 2021, claiming that it documented an operation conducted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to the agency, the operation successfully thwarted an alleged attempt by the U.S. Navy to seize Iranian oil in the Sea of Oman.
According to the report from the News Agency, the details of the operation suggested that the U.S. Navy had purportedly planned to seize an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman with the intention of "stealing an Iranian oil shipment." The alleged plan involved transferring the oil cargo to another tanker and escorting it to an undisclosed location. The Revolutionary Guard, as claimed by the agency, intervened in the operation, seizing the purportedly "stolen" oil tanker and redirecting it towards Iranian territorial waters.
Contrastingly, U.S. news reports, citing American officials, including Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, rejected Iran's accusations of attempting to seize an Iranian oil tanker, labeling them as false and baseless claims.
Iran Announces Seizure of U.S. Oil Tanker in the Sea of Oman 2024
The allegations followed Iran's announcement of seizing the U.S. oil tanker "St. Nicholas," which was carrying Iraqi oil bound for Turkey. Iran justified the seizure, stating that the same tanker had allegedly "stolen" Iranian oil in May of the previous year, before changing its name from "Suez Rajan" to "St. Nicholas."
In response, the United States condemned Iran's detention of the oil tanker, urging the immediate release of the vessel and its crew.
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