TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has helped a depleted foreign oil tanker in the Gulf need repairs, reports the Iranian foreign ministry, after reports of the disappearance of an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran said the tanker had been pulled into Iranian waters to deal with its failures and provide more assistance.
The Iranian news agency ISNA quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying on Tuesday that Iranian naval vessels had helped a foreign oil tanker in the Gulf who needed repairs.
The Associated Press reported that a UAE tanker disappeared two days ago while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, whose fate is not known so far, while denied an Emirati official that the tanker owned by his country.
The vessel, which was flying the Panamanian flag and carrying the name "Riah", was passing at a shipping point near the strait before it disappeared, the agency said. The final location of the carrier shows that it was heading towards Iran.
The carrier made regular flights from Dubai to Sharjah before entering the Strait of Hormuz on its way to Fujairah on the eastern coast of the UAE, but something happened to it last Saturday night, according to data for a site tracking the movement of tankers.
Tension in the Gulf
The carrier has not changed course over the past three months around the UAE coast, raising questions about its fate, the agency quoted an expert as saying.
The Emirates News Agency quoted an Emirati official as saying that the lost oil tanker is not owned by the UAE and does not carry an Emirati crew.
The UAE official said the tanker had not sent any distress request and was carrying Panama flag.
In May, four ships were hit by sabotage operations off the emirate of Fujairah outside the Strait of Hormuz. It involves two Saudi oil tankers, one Norwegian oil tanker and one UAE cargo ship.
The incident took place in the waters of the UAE in a climate of intense tension prevailing in the region because of the dispute between Iran and the United States, against the backdrop of tightening US sanctions on Tehran.
The results of a joint investigation into the incident said that the attacks on four tankers off the UAE coast in May bore the hallmarks of "a complex and coordinated operation and probably behind one of the states."
The three countries involved in the probe - the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Norway - did not mention who they believed was behind the attacks, and did not mention Iran, which the United States accuses of direct responsibility for the attacks.