Iran Says It Aided Oil Tanker, Amid Reports of Missing U.A.E. Ship

Iran Says It Aided Oil Tanker, Amid Reports of Missing U.A.E. Ship
Megan Specia July 17, 2019

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has said that security forces recently came to the aid of a foreign oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, hours after reports that Iran might have seized a tanker from the United Arab Emirates in the area.

Abbas Mousavi, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that Iranian forces had rushed to the aid of an unidentified tanker that had sent a distress call after a “technical glitch,” according to reports Tuesday night from the semiofficial Iranian news agency Press TV. He said that tugboats had towed it toward Iranian waters for repairs.

Mr. Mousavi did not say what nation the ship was from, who owned it or what its current status was. He said more information would come later.

more...https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/17/world/middleeast/iran-oil-tanker.html