Reports from Friday<\/a> indicated that the tanker was transiting through the narrow Strait of Hormuz when it suddenly changed course into Iranian territorial waters, with the British military warning that a possible \u201cstate activity\u201d had affected it.<\/p>\n \t The vessel\u2019s manager, Columbia Shipmanagement, said it lost contact with the Talara Friday morning around 20 nautical miles off the coast of Khor Fakkan, UAE. It added that it was working closely with relevant parties, including maritime security agencies and the vessel\u2019s owner, to restore contact.<\/p>\n The ship is owned by Cyprus-based Pasha Finance.<\/p>\n In a statement, the US military said it was aware of the incident and was actively monitoring the situation.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s IRGC has periodically seized commercial vessels in Gulf waters in recent years, often citing maritime violations such as alleged smuggling, technical infractions or legal disputes.<\/p>\n However, the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident was surprising since Iran had not carried out any such operations in recent months.<\/p>\n Iran has curbed its military activities in the region since the 12-day Israeli bombing campaign in June, which was joined by the US. Its last reported seizure of a vessel was in April 2024.<\/p>\n \t The US Navy has blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks<\/a> on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a fatal drone attack<\/a> on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021.<\/p>\n Those attacks began after US President Donald Trump, in his first term in office, unilaterally withdrew from Iran\u2019s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.<\/p>\n In May 2022,\u00a0Iran took two Greek tankers<\/a> and held them until November of that year. Iran seized the Portuguese-flagged<\/a> and Israel-affiliated cargo ship MSC Aries in April 2024.<\/p>\n Those attacks found themselves subsumed by the Iranian-backed Houthis\u2019 assaults targeting ships during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, which drastically reduced shipping in the crucial Red Sea corridor.<\/p>\n Iran long has threatened to close off the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20 percent of all oil traded passes. The US Navy has long patrolled the Middle East through its Bahrain-based 5th Fleet to keep the waterways open.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tAn Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel watches an American warship in the Strait of Hormuz May 19, 2023. (Jon Gambrell\/AP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/33QG8KA-highres-640x400.jpg\")
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