Iran says its navy seized an oil tanker involved in a US sanctions dispute, escalating Middle East shipping tumult

• Iran captured an oil tanker off the coast of Oman, deepening shipping tensions in the Middle East, Bloomberg reported.
• The hijack is a response to a sanctions-related dispute last year when the US seized an Iranian tanker. 
• The incident marks the latest tumult in the Red Sea, which has threatened to disrupt global energy flows.

Iran hijacked an oil tanker involved in a US-Iran sanctions scuffle, deepening the shipping turmoil that has gripped the Middle East, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

The tanker, St Nikolas, was captured in response to a US Department of Justice operation last year that seized the same ship (then called the Suez Rajan) while it was carrying 980,000 barrels of crude oil.

"The US oil tanker was seized by a court order in response to the theft of Iranian oil by the United States in 2023," Iranian news outlet Mehr said.

The UK Maritime Trade Organization said that a group of four to five armed individuals wearing "military style black uniforms with black masks" boarded the tanker early on Thursday 50 nautical miles east of Sohar, Oman.

The captured tanker is being transferred to undisclosed ports of Iran, Mehr added.

The news highlights the churning conflict in the Red Sea as Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia continue to attack commercial ships, escalating the risks to cargo ships passing through a major artery of global trade. The group launched 14 drone attacks on December 16, 17 drone and missile attacks on December 26, and attempted to capture a cargo ship on December 31.

Some analysts say that the rise in attacks on cargo ships could trigger another run-up of global inflation as the tumult boosts container and insurance costs. One index recording global container rates said the chaos in the trade route caused prices to jump 61% over the first week of 2024.