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The US military seized another oil tanker in the Indian Ocean on Thursday that it said was associated with smuggling Iranian oil, as the wartime sea standoff between the US and Iran continued.
The seizure of oil tanker Majestic X followed Iran’s attack on three cargo ships on Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz, capturing two of them.
The US Defence Department released footage of the seizure of the vessel, showing US troops on the deck, stating that the US military “will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate.”
Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X could be located in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same area as the oil tanker Tifani, which was earlier seized by US forces. It had been bound for Zhoushan in China.
The Majestic X, a Guyana-flagged oil tanker, had previously been named Phonix and was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in contravention of US sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
There was no immediate response from Iran on the news of the seizure.
Earlier on Thursday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also released footage showing its own seizure of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian media said two container ships were seized after coming under fire, while a third vessel was also targeted in the waterway.
Meanwhile on Thursday, diplomatic efforts around the Strait of Hormuz remain stalled, with Iran hardening its position as tensions continue in the waterway.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said reopening the strait would be “impossible” while the US naval blockade remains in place, calling it a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also blamed Washington for the stalemate, saying “bad faith, siege and threats are the main obstacles to genuine negotiation.”
Iranian officials said talks cannot resume unless the US blockade is lifted, even as the truce has halted direct military strikes.
Iran signals tighter grip over passage
Separately, Iran’s deputy parliament speaker, Hamidreza Haji Babaei, said Tehran claimed that it had already collected transit fees from ships passing through the strait.
Initial revenues were transferred to the central bank, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Haji Babaei said the “first revenue from Hormuz transit tolls has been deposited” into state accounts, while another lawmaker said charges vary depending on cargo and navigation conditions.
Meanwhile, US officials said restoring normal shipping could take time, even if an agreement is reached to reopen free navigation in the strait.
The Pentagon said clearing Iranian sea mines in the strait could take up to six months, while separate estimates suggest it could take weeks before commercial traffic starts to recover.
Ship owners and insurers will need more than a simple announcement of a peace deal to venture through the strait as they did before the war.
According to analytical and data firm Rystad Energy, if and when the war ends it would take six to eight weeks just to reposition the world’s tanker network.
Ship owners and insurers would need two to five weeks to become comfortable with a new operating environment and resume normal operations.
Additional sources • AP