Western media said that security sources believe that Iranian-backed forces seized a ship on Tuesday in the Gulf waters off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, but Tehran denied its connection with the matter, and considered it a pretext for hostile action against it.

Western reports stated that the ship "Asphalt Princess" - which flies the flag of Panama, and transports asphalt and bitumen - was hijacked when it was sailing from Khorfakkan in the Emirates to Sohar in the Sultanate of Oman.

Reuters quoted 3 naval security sources as saying that Iranian-backed forces are believed to have seized the ship.

The Times said that British sources believed that the ship had been hijacked, and that "work is underway assuming that the Iranian army or its agents are on board."

Lloyd's List said that heavily armed individuals boarded the tanker and forced it to sail to Iran.

Earlier, Britain's Maritime Trade Operations said the incident off the coast of Fujairah could be a "potential kidnapping".

American concern

For its part, the White House described the reports as "extremely concerning," and spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, "We are monitoring this evolving situation, and we are in close contact with London and other partners around the world are watching as well."

Earlier, the US State Department said it was concerned and studying reports of the incident, but added that it was "too early" to make a ruling.

As for the British Foreign Office spokesman, he said his country was conducting an "urgent investigation" into the matter.


For its part, Iranian state television said - on its website - that the Revolutionary Guards denied the involvement of Iranian forces or their allies in an incident against any ship off the coast of the UAE on Tuesday, and said that this was a pretext for a "hostile act" against Tehran.

In the same context, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said - in a statement via Twitter - that "publishing information about successive incidents related to ships in the Gulf (...) raises great suspicion."

The spokesman warned against "creating the wrong situation for political purposes."

Other accidents

Mystery shrouded the course of a number of other ships in the Gulf on Tuesday;

Reuters said that at least 5 ships in the region between the UAE and Iran had updated their automatic identification system to show that they were "not under command", according to Refinitiv ship tracking data, and such a situation usually indicates that the ship is unable to On maneuverability due to exceptional circumstances.

Tensions escalated in the region after an attack last week on a tanker operated by an Israeli company off the coast of Oman;

It caused the deaths of two of its crew members, and the United States, Israel and Britain blamed it on Iran, which denied responsibility.


Britain, Romania and Liberia told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that it was "highly likely" that Iran used one or more drones to carry out the attack on the Liberian-flagged Mercer Street oil tanker.

The three countries said - in a letter to the Security Council - "This attack harmed the safety and security of international shipping, posed a threat to it, and was a clear violation of international law. The international community should condemn this act."

Iran and Israel have accused each other of attacking ships of both sides in the past few months.