Iran's Revolutionary Guard said on Friday morning that it had targeted the Togo-flagged oil tanker Trend in the Strait of Hormuz and that its forces had forced it to stop after a fire broke out on board. In a statement, Revolutionary Guard Navy commander Admiral Ali Azmaei said the tanker had attempted to cross the strait “illegally, at the instigation and through deception by the US military”, according to the Iranian account.
Security report near Khasab as shipping declines
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency reported on Thursday evening that a security incident had occurred 16 nautical miles, or 29.5 kilometres, north-east of Khasab in Oman. It was unclear whether the report referred to the tanker mentioned by the Revolutionary Guard. The incident coincides with a decline in shipping traffic through the strait due to security restrictions.
Preliminary vessel-tracking data showed that the number of commodity vessels crossing the waterway on Wednesday fell to 3, compared with 12 vessels the previous day, while the average over the past 10 days was about 17 vessels.
The region is seeing overlapping restrictions and routes, including a US blockade targeting ship traffic to and from Iranian ports, a prohibited area Tehran has threatened to impose, and a maritime route that Iran says it is discussing with Oman, alongside a route Washington says it is protecting to secure navigation.
