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Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reportedly took control of the oil tanker Talara, owned by a Cyprus-based company, and are steering it toward an Iranian port, according to Reuters and British maritime security sources.
The 73,371-ton, Marshall Islands-flagged tanker was intercepted Friday by three small Iranian military boats while traveling from the United Arab Emirates to Singapore through the Gulf of Oman. Converging reports confirm that the vessel has now been diverted to Iranian shores.
Talara is managed by Columbia and owned by Pasha Finance, a Limassol-based company controlled by Azerbaijan’s Aliyev family. This marks the first reported Iranian seizure of a merchant ship this year. The last confirmed incident occurred in April 2024, when the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps seized the Portuguese-flagged container ship MSC Aries via a helicopter operation in international waters.
Maritime security experts are warning commercial vessels to stay alert when passing through the Strait of Hormuz and to report any suspicious activity immediately.
The incident raises tensions over shipping in a key oil transit route and puts a spotlight on Cyprus-linked shipping interests in a volatile region.
