The US military recently diverted at least three Iranian-flagged oil tankers in the Asian Sea, preventing them from reaching their destinations, according to multiple maritime and security sources.
The three tankers were seized near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, Reuters reported, citing sources.
Washington has imposed a blockade on Iranian trade by sea, while Tehran has also fired on several ships to prevent them from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Gulf.
A bloody conflict in the Middle East began two months ago after the United States and Israel attacked Iran. It later involved Lebanon’s Hezbollah and pro-Iranian groups in Iraq. Tensions eased somewhat when Iran and the United States agreed to a ceasefire earlier this month. The truce was later extended, but there is no sign of peace talks resuming.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has cut off one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies, causing a severe energy crisis around the world.
US forces recently seized an Iranian cargo ship and an oil tanker, while Iran said it seized two container ships trying to leave the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday.
They fired at a total of three ships, including these two, before capturing them. Iran has never captured a ship before since the war began.
US forces have diverted at least three more Iranian-flagged oil tankers from their designated routes in recent days, two Indian and US naval sources and two separate Western maritime security sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
Reuters sought comment on the report that Iranian ships were intercepted and diverted in the Asian Sea, but there was no immediate response from the US military.
One of the Iranian-flagged vessels, the Deep Sea supertanker, was partially loaded with crude oil and was near the Malaysian coast a week ago, according to its identification transponder signals, according to the shipping monitoring platform Marine Traffic and multiple sources.
Another small Iranian-flagged tanker, the Sevin, was also intercepted by US forces en route. The tanker, which has a maximum capacity of one million barrels, was carrying 65% of its capacity at the time of the interception. The vessel was last seen off the coast of Malaysia a month ago, according to shipping data.
Multiple sources and data from marine traffic platforms have confirmed that the Iranian-flagged supertanker Dorena, carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil, was last seen off the southern coast of India three days ago.
In a post on X on Wednesday, the US Central Command said that a US Navy destroyer had taken the Dorena into custody in the Indian Ocean for attempting to breach their blockade.
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