Iran Denies Connection to Oil Cargo Seized by Indonesia

The Ministry of Oil of the Islamic Republic of Iran states that the oil cargo of an Iranian-flagged tanker seized by Indonesia last week does not belong to Tehran. In a statement published by Iranian state media, the identity of the owner of the MT Arman 114, suspected of transporting illegal crude oil, has not been disclosed. The Ministry's statement, without providing details, said: "Reports attributing the cargo of this ship to Iran are completely unfounded and aimed at creating a negative atmosphere against our country." Tensions between Tehran and Washington have escalated following Iran's attempt to seize the Richmond Voyager tanker, managed by the major American oil company Chevron. The U.S. Navy announced in July that it had prevented Iran from seizing two commercial tankers, including the Richmond Voyager, in international waters in the Sea of Oman. The commander of the IRGC Navy stated on Thursday that the Islamic Republic would take retaliatory action against any oil company that unloads Iranian oil from a seized tanker. Matt Miller, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, said on Thursday that Iran has shown it disregards international maritime laws, standards, and safety and should not host official international maritime-related meetings. The Iranian Foreign Ministry criticized the U.S. for requesting the cancellation of Iran's proposal to host a maritime event in October to the United Nations Maritime Agency Council. Nasser Kanani, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, stated that this U.S. action proves that "political abuse" of technical and specialized UN bodies knows no bounds for this country. Meanwhile, data from the public site 'Equasis' and the company 'Marine Traffic' indicates that one of the previous names of Arman 114 was Grace 1. Grace 1 was seized in July 2019 by Royal Navy commandos on suspicion of attempting to transfer oil to Syria and circumventing EU sanctions. The Islamic Republic's harassment of commercial vessels; Iran lost the opportunity to host an international meeting. The IRGC warned oil companies about unloading the confiscated oil cargo. More ships and fighters are heading to the Persian Gulf; the U.S. is bolstering its military presence. Indonesia seized a suspected Iranian tanker.