Dubai: A ship anchored off the east coast of the United Arab Emirates has been seized and is heading toward Iranian waters, the British military said Thursday.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said it received reports that the vessel was taken by unauthorised personnel while anchored 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers) northeast of the UAE port of Fujairah, near the Strait of Hormuz.
Indian authorities also announced Thursday that an Indian-flagged cargo ship sank off the coast of Oman after an attack sparked a fire aboard the vessel while it was en route from Somalia to Sharjah Wednesday, without identifying who attacked the ship.
Seizures and attacks in Hormuz ongoing
The situation in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil used to pass through on a typical day, continues to capture the world’s attention as Iran’s grip has jolted the world economy and caused a spike in fuel prices that has rippled through other sectors with effects far beyond the Middle East.
UKMTO did not name the ship seized Thursday and said it is investigating. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the seizure.
Fujairah is an important oil export terminal and the UAE’s main port outside of the Persian Gulf. It has been repeatedly attacked during the war with Iran.
The attack on the Indian-flagged cargo ship Haji Ali occurred Wednesday, according to Mukesh Mangal, a senior official in India’s shipping ministry. He said all 14 Indian crew members were rescued by Oman’s coast guard and were safe.
India’s foreign ministry called the incident “unacceptable” and condemned continued attacks on commercial shipping and civilian mariners. The ministry did not identify who carried out the attack.
Seizures come at tense diplomatic moment
The seizure comes as US President Donald Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a much-anticipated visit to Beijing. The leaders’ talks were expected to focus on the war with Iran.
Iranian semiofficial news agencies reported that Chinese ships began passing through the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday night under new Iranian protocols. According to the reports, Tehran agreed to facilitate the passage of several Chinese vessels after requests from China’s foreign minister and Beijing’s ambassador to Iran. The ships began their passage as Trump arrived in China on Wednesday evening.
The seizures also happened hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had quietly visited the UAE during the Israeli-US war with Iran, though the UAE swiftly denied that any secret visit had occurred.
The Gulf nation normalised relations with Israel in 2020. Iran has criticised that agreement and has repeatedly suggested over the years that Israel maintained a military and intelligence presence in the UAE.
Israeli leaders have made occasional visits to the UAE in recent years after normalising relations.
Netanyahu’s decision to go public with the sensitive meeting was likely an effort to drum up local support for his flagging party ahead of Israeli elections, said Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv defence think tank Institute of National Security Studies.
“It’s amazing, it’s the deepest cooperation we’ve ever had… that during a war, Israel is defending an Arab state against Iran, it shows how complicated the Middle East is,” said Guzansky.
The UAE is trying to highlight its cooperation with Israel but not with Netanyahu and his government, Guzansky said, because many in the UAE are against Israel’s policies in Gaza.
“They’re trying to differentiate between security cooperation and cooperating with this government,” said Guzansky, who previously worked for the national security council within the Israeli prime minister’s office.
Iran defends right to seize ships
Iran’s judiciary spokesperson told the state-owned Iran Daily newspaper Thursday Iran has the legal and judicial right to seize oil tankers connected to the US in the Strait of Hormuz because the US has violated international maritime laws and committed piracy.
The spokesperson, Asghar Jahangir, did not explicitly refer to the tanker seized Thursday.
Iran seized a number of ships, including a tanker identified as the Ocean Koi, last week, saying it was attempting to disrupt oil exports and Iranian interests, according to the official IRNA news agency. It said the tanker was seized in the Gulf of Oman and was carrying Iranian oil when it was boarded and taken to Iran’s southern coast.
The US sanctioned the Ocean Koi in February as part of a “shadow fleet” that has been transporting Iranian oil.
3 Israelis injured by a Hezbollah drone
A Hezbollah drone exploded inside Israel, injuring three civilians, two of them severely, according to the Israeli military and hospitals. Israel and Hezbollah have traded near-constant fire across the border despite a US-brokered ceasefire April 17.
It was the first instance of civilians injured by Hezbollah projectiles since the ceasefire, according to reports from Israel’s rescue services, Magen David Adom.
Hezbollah has frequently used drones to attack Israeli forces in southern Lebanon and over the border in northern Israel. The Israeli air force has struck areas across southern Lebanon.
Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to hold another round of direct talks in Washington Thursday, as the Trump administration pushes for a breakthrough between the two neighbours that have been in a state of war since Israel was created in 1948.
The United Nations has also accused Hezbollah of drone strikes near its peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ message to both sides is that they must observe the ceasefire and stop all attacks, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Wednesday that since the war began March 2, at least 2,896 people have been killed and 8,824 wounded. Eighteen Israeli soldiers and a defence contractor have been killed in southern Lebanon.
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