A ship anchored off the east coast of the United Arab Emirates has been seized and is heading towards Iranian waters, the British military said on Thursday.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said it received reports that the vessel was taken by unauthorised personnel while anchored 38 nautical miles (70 kilometres) northeast of the UAE port of Fujairah, near the Strait of Hormuz.
The seizure comes as US President Donald Trump was meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a much-anticipated visit to Beijing. The leaders’ talks are expected to focus on the war with Iran, which has seriously disrupted trade in oil, gas and other products and rattled the global economy. It happened hours after Israel said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had quietly visited the UAE during the Israeli-US war with Iran, though the UAE swiftly denied that any secret visit had occurred.
The Gulf nation normalised relations with Israel in 2020. Iran has criticised that agreement and has repeatedly suggested over the years that Israel maintained a military and intelligence presence in the UAE. Israeli leaders have made occasional visits to the UAE in recent years after normalising relations.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) did not name the ship and said it is investigating. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the seizure. Fujairah is an important oil export terminal and the UAE’s main port outside of the Persian Gulf. It has been repeatedly attacked during the war with Iran.
Iran has seized a number of ships, including a tanker identified as the Ocean Koi last week, saying it was attempting to disrupt oil exports and Iranian interests, according to the official IRNA news agency. It said the tanker was seized in the Gulf of Oman and was carrying Iranian oil when it was boarded and taken to Iran’s southern coast. The US sanctioned the Ocean Koi in February as part of a “shadow fleet” that has been transporting Iranian oil.
3 Israelis injured by Hezbollah drone
A Hezbollah drone exploded inside Israel, injuring three civilians, two of them severely, according to the Israeli military and hospitals. Israel and Hezbollah have traded near-constant fire across the border despite a US-brokered ceasefire on April 17.
Hezbollah has frequently used drones to attack Israeli forces in southern Lebanon and over the border in northern Israel. The Israeli air force has struck areas across southern Lebanon.
The United Nations has also accused Hezbollah of drone strikes near its peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon. UN Secretary-General António Guterres' message to both sides is that they must observe the ceasefire and stop all attacks, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday that since the war began on March 2, at least 2,896 people have been killed and 8,824 wounded. Eighteen Israeli soldiers and a defence contractor have been killed in southern Lebanon.
Also read: 8 killed as Israeli drones hit Beirut
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