U.S. fears Iran seized UAE-based tanker in Strait of Hormuz

[Applegate]

11. Reuters update: "Iran says it came to help of disabled foreign oil tanker in the Gulf"

Iran says it came to help of disabled foreign oil tanker in the Gulf

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian navy vessels came to the assistance of a disabled foreign oil tanker in the Gulf that needed repairs, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying on Tuesday by the semi-official news agency ISNA.

“(Spokesman) Abbas Mousavi said... that an international oil tanker was in trouble due to a technical fault in the Persian Gulf... After receiving a request for assistance, Iranian forces approached it and used a tugboat to pull it towards Iranian waters for the necessary repairs to be carried out,” ISNA said.

Mousavi did not name the tanker and said more information would be released later.

A CNN reporter tweeted earlier that U.S. intelligence increasingly believed that the UAE tanker MT Riah had been forced into Iranian waters by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards naval forces. But the reporter added that other Gulf sources said it had simply broken down and may have been towed by Iranian vessels.

Iran has called on Britain to release immediately an Iranian oil tanker that was seized by British Royal Marines earlier in July on suspicion it was breaking European sanctions by taking oil to Syria.

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