Iran claims to ‘intercept’ US Navy vessels after offloading of seized oil tanker

Iran state media touted questionable footage that allegedly showed harassment of believed to hold Iranian oil.

Pentagon officials quickly denied claims from Tehran, amplified by state media, that US vessels had been intercepted.

“That report is not true. So I don’t know where that’s coming from, but we’ve seen this from them before pushing out,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told Fox News Monday.

“I don’t know if it’s propaganda, but I would say untrue statements, and that just is not accurate.”

Iranian media claimed that the oil-rich nation’s speedboats caught up to the US vessels and warned them not to violate Iran’s territorial waters.

The Strait of Hormuz is a key strategic strip of water between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman where nearly a third of the world’s oil flows through.

https://twitter.com/IranIntl_En/status/1693267463163539681?s=20

The recently released footage from Iran purports to show an encounter on Aug. 17 involving the USS Bataan and USS Thomas Hudner.

Notably, the Iranian ships were much smaller in size than the US Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and amphibious assault ship allegedly shown.

The spat between the two nations comes as the US reportedly began offloading cargo from a seized tanker believe to have been transporting sanctioned Iranian oil to Singapore.

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Suez Rajan, the oil tanker, has sat off the coast of Texas since May and a slew of US companies appeared skittish to offload in, fearful of potential retaliation from Iran.

Last week, a bipartisan and bicameral group of 10 lawmakers implored the Biden administration to end the impasse and offload the tanker.

Since then, cargo from the tanker has been offloaded, per tracking data.

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“Finally, after months of delay, the Biden administration has listened to my bipartisan call for action and signaled to Iran that the United States will not be complacent in the face of Iranian threats,” one of the lawmakers, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-La.) said in a statement.

“No foreign adversary should question America’s strength and that we will stand up for the lives and livelihoods of Americans.”

Cargo aboard that vessel is estimated to be 800,000 barrels of oil, valued at an estimated value of $56 million.

Under US law, 75% of profits from the oil sale would be deposited in the US Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Fund, which compensates victims and survivors of atrocities including the Sept. 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks and the 1979-81 Iran hostage crisis. 

Last month, a senior Iranian navy official warned that Tehran would retaliate against any company that offloads the tanker.

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Additionally, back in July, the US military announced it would send additional forces to the Middle East to counter Tehran’s recent attempts to seize ships.

Approximately 20 foreign merchant vessels have reportedly been harassed or seized by Iran over the past two years. 

The Biden administration has been in talks with Iran to give it access to $6 billion in assets from oil money that had been frozen in South Korea in exchange for freeing five American detainees. 

The Post contacted a Pentagon spokesperson for comment.