They demand the immediate release of the Greek-owned tanker with an announcement Department of State the United States of America, after the seizure of the tanker St Nicholas by an armed group of the Iranian army, in the Gulf of Oman.

“The Iranian government must immediately release the tanker and its crew. This illegal seizure of a merchant ship is an act by Iran – or at the behest of Tehran – aimed at disrupting international trade,” a State Department spokesman told reporters. Vedant Patel.

“It is important to be absolutely clear that the United States continue to vigorously enforce their sanctions on Iran,” the State Department spokesman added in his briefing to reporters.

“Iran’s Navy announced the capture of an American tanker in Gulf of Oman following a court order,” state television in Iran reported earlier.

On the tanker St Nicholaswith the flag of the Marshall Islands, which last year was confiscated by the USA to transport Iranian oil, gunmen boarded it as it sailed off the Omani city of Sohar, according to British insurer Ambrey, and the vessel’s AIS tracking system was shut down as it headed for the Iranian port of Badar-e-Jazk.

The vessel is manned with a total of 19 crew members, 18 Filipino nationals and one Greek, a fact confirmed by the Ministry of Shipping, stating that the Greek is registered as a probationary master.

After the ship was seized last year, Iran warned the US that this action “would not go unanswered”.

The ship was once involved in a dispute with the US Department of Justice in which a million barrels of Iranian crude oil were seized.