DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 Masked Iranian navy commandos conducted a helicopter-borne raid to seize a U.S.-bound oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, footage aired by Iran\u2019s state television showed Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The capture on Thursday of the Turkish-managed, Chinese-owned Advantage Sweet represents the latest seizure by Iran amid tensions with the U.S. over advancing nuclear program. While Tehran says the tanker was seized over it running into another Iranian vessel, it has provided no evidence yet to support the claim \u2014 and the Islamic Republic has taken other ships as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The footage showed the commandos descending on the deck of the Advantage Sweet by ropes from a hovering helicopter. A photograph showed one commando with his fist in the air after apparently taking the vessel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Navy\u2019s 5th Fleet has said the Iranian seizure was at least the fifth commercial vessel taken by Tehran in the last two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIran\u2019s continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional waters are a threat to maritime security and the global economy,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vessel\u2019s manager, a Turkish firm called Advantage Tankers, issued a statement acknowledging the Advantage Sweet was \u201cbeing escorted by the Iranian navy to a port on the basis of an international dispute.\u201d All the ship\u2019s 24 crew members are Indian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe safety and welfare of our valued crew members is our No. 1 priority,\u201d the firm said. \u201cSimilar experiences show that crew members of vessels taken under such circumstances are in no danger.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iranian state TV footage shows how masked Iranian navy commandos conducted a helicopter-borne raid to seize a U.S.-bound oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":106648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3391],"class_list":["post-73252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"JRUG7ASVPVH2NB5PYWSRYUJ4PI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2023\/04\/28\/iran-tv-airs-footage-of-commandos-seizing-us-bound-tanker\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n