Iranian special forces boarded a tanker in international waters for between four and five hours on Wednesday before releasing it, according to a US official familiar with the matter.
Two Iranian ships were in the vicinity when the personnel roped down from a helicopter onto the Wila, a Liberian-flagged chemicals and oil-products tanker, at about 5:30pm, said the official, asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
The Wila was in the Gulf of Oman and about 32km from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the official said.
It passed through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical choke-point that borders Iran and accounts for about one-third of the world’s seaborne oil flows, on July 16, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
While Iran regularly intercepts ships it alleges have entered its waters or are illegally smuggling fuel, the incident comes as US President Donald Trump looks to tighten UN sanctions on the Islamic republic and renew an arms embargo.
The US military was only involved in monitoring and did not receive a distress call, the person said.
US Central Command on Wednesday tweeted a footage of the event.
The White House and US National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Neither did officials in Iran, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran did not answer calls.
Wila has been floating off the eastern coast of the UAE for about a month and is now near Khor Fakkan port, according to the ship-tracking data.
Its previous stop was about July 8 near the Iraqi oil terminal of al Basra where its draft increased, indicating it picked up a shipment.
With a capacity of about 50,000 barrels, the Wila is small compared with the tankers that ship Middle East crude.
Those can usually hold as much as 2 million barrels.
A larger oil ship anchored off Khor Fakkan sailed to Iran last month under mysterious circumstances.
The crew of the 1-million-barrel Gulf Sky said it was hijacked. It left UAE waters on July 5 while under arrest, pending a court decision on its ownership.
In May, the US intercepted US$23.4 million in payments from an entity it said was acting on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force to buy the Gulf Sky. It was the largest US seizure of funds from the organization.
The loss of the vessel dealt a blow to US efforts to contain Iran’s activities beyond its borders.
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