United States Forces Detain Iran-Linked Tanker Tifani as US-Iran Ceasefire Nears Expiration

United States forces detained an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean that the Pentagon said was sanctioned for smuggling Iranian crude oil, as a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran was about to expire.

“United States forces have detained an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean sanctioned for smuggling Iranian crude oil, the Pentagon says”

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera reports that the M/T Tifani was boarded overnight, with the US Department of Defense announcing the action on Tuesday.

Al Jazeera

The Pentagon described the operation as a “right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the stateless sanctioned M/T Tifani without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility,” according to the department’s social media post.

In that same post, the department said the US is determined “to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran – anywhere they operate”.

Al Jazeera adds that an unnamed US defence official told The Associated Press that the Tifani was captured in the Bay of Bengal between India and Southeast Asia and was carrying Iranian oil.

The report also says the US military will decide in the coming days what to do with the vessel, “for instance, tow it back to the US or turn it over to another country,” as the official reportedly said.

Al Jazeera further notes that the Tifani is a Botswana-flagged tanker, and that its last signal was detected on Tuesday halfway between Sri Lanka and the Strait of Malacca, with its tracking indicating it was heading towards Singapore.

Al Jazeera frames the detention of the M/T Tifani as occurring at a moment when US-Iran diplomacy was under time pressure, because “a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran was about to expire and a resumption of their talks was on a knife edge.”

The report says doubts remained on Tuesday regarding whether a second round of negotiations between Tehran and Washington would take place in Pakistan.

CNN

It adds that an initial round ended on April 12 without a breakthrough, and that Pakistan’s attempts to broker the talks were becoming more urgent throughout Tuesday as the expiration of the already tenuous ceasefire approached.

Al Jazeera also reports that a spokesperson for Tehran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told state television on Tuesday that Iran had still to decide whether to attend as he described the boarding of the tanker as well as the earlier seizure of a cargo ship, as “piracy at sea and state terrorism”.

The same section of the report says the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman declared that these actions called into question Washington’s seriousness in negotiating.

On the US side, Al Jazeera reports that Trump declared that the US military is “raring to go” if an agreement is not reached.

The article also notes that Trump has promised to maintain a blockade on Iran “until there is a deal” to end the war, while maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence said “at least 26 ships from Iran’s ghost fleet [have] circumvented the US blockade” since it was imposed last week.

Al Jazeera provides details about the Tifani’s alleged activity and the US rationale for interdiction, linking the boarding to sanctions enforcement and Iranian crude shipments.

“United States forces have detained an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean sanctioned for smuggling Iranian crude oil, the Pentagon says”

Al Jazeera

The report says that according to an AFP news agency report citing the energy intelligence firm Kpler, the vessel loaded about 2 million barrels of crude on Iran’s Kharg Island on April 5 and passed through the Strait of Hormuz on April 9.

It also states that the Tifani has in recent years carried out numerous ship-to-ship oil transfers off Singapore and Malaysia and made multiple round trips between that area and destinations that include Iran and China.

The Pentagon’s post, as quoted by Al Jazeera, said “International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels,” and it included video footage showing helicopters hovering just above a large, bright orange tanker.

Al Jazeera adds that the Tifani’s last signal was detected on Tuesday halfway between Sri Lanka and the Strait of Malacca, and that its tracking signal indicated it was heading towards Singapore.

The report also notes that INDOPACOM oversees a broad region that includes the Pacific and Indian oceans, while saying the exact location of the operation was not made clear.

In addition, Al Jazeera says the US Navy attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship on Sunday that it said had tried to evade its blockade.

Al Jazeera reports that the immediate operational question after the boarding is what the US will do with the M/T Tifani, with the decision expected in the coming days.

The report says the US military will decide “in the coming days what to do with the vessel, for instance, tow it back to the US or turn it over to another country,” citing an unnamed US defence official.

CNN

It also describes the tanker’s status as “stateless” in the Pentagon’s post, and it notes that the boarding occurred “without incident” in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.

The article ties those next steps to the broader diplomatic uncertainty, because it says the ceasefire was about to expire and that resumption of talks was “on a knife edge.”

Al Jazeera also reports that Iran had not yet decided whether it would attend a second round of negotiations, with a Tehran Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson telling state television that Iran had still to decide whether to attend.

The report further says the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman declared that these actions called into question Washington’s seriousness in negotiating.

On the US side, Trump’s position is presented as conditional on reaching an agreement, with Al Jazeera quoting that Trump has promised to maintain a blockade on Iran “until there is a deal” to end the war.