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A US-flagged tanker was challenged on Tuesday by Iranian gunboats as it travelled through the Strait of Hormuz, days ahead of talks between the Trump administration and the Islamic Republic following US threats to attack Iran.
The Stena Imperative — which was on charter to the US military until at least August last year — was hailed north of Oman by “numerous small armed vessels”, but ignored a request to stop and instead continued through the strait, according to the UK’s Maritime Trade Operations office.
Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, quoted unnamed Iranian officials as saying that “a vessel entered Iranian waters”, prompting the country’s “supervisory units to demand the necessary permissions”.
The agency added that the vessel “lacked any legal authorisation to be in these waters”, and had received a “warning” after which it “immediately left Iran’s waters . . . without any incident”.
The Stena Imperative left Singaporean waters in mid-January and on Tuesday began transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime chokepoint through which a third of the world’s seaborne oil trade passes, according to ship-tracking website Marine Traffic. It has now passed into the Persian Gulf.
The ship was “challenged by three pairs of Iranian fast-attack craft equipped with bow-mounted 50-calibre weapons [heavy machine guns]”, according to maritime intelligence group EOS Risk, which added: “At no stage did the vessel enter Iranian internal territorial waters.” EOS said that the tanker was now being escorted by a US naval vessel.
The US has amassed what President Donald Trump has called a “large armada” in the Middle East to take potential military action against Iran. The US navy has 10 ships in Middle Eastern waters, including an aircraft carrier strike group.
“We have big ships heading to Iran right now . . . We have talks going on with Iran, we will see how it all works out,” Trump said on Monday.
The US has also added more fighter jets and air defences in the region.
US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in the region, said the IRGC was scheduled to conduct two days of live-fire naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz starting on February 1. Beforehand, Centcom acknowledged Iran’s right to conduct the exercises, but warned Tehran to avoid escalatory behaviour.
“Any unsafe and unprofessional behaviour near US forces, regional partners or commercial vessels increases risks of collision, escalation and destabilisation,” Centcom said on Friday.
The Stena Imperative has been part of the US’s Military Sealift Command, which provides logistics and transport services to the US armed forces. Its fleet consists of ships owned by the US Navy and merchant vessels such as the Stena Imperative, on charter from commercial shipowners.
Crowley Government Services, which manages the Stena Imperative, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nor did the US Navy, Military Sealift Command, or Centcom.