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The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said it
received reports that the vessel was taken by unauthorized
personnel while anchored 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers, 44
miles) northeast of the UAE port of Fujairah, near the Strait of
Hormuz.
The seizure comes as U.S. President Donald Trump is meeting with
Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a much-anticipated visit to
Beijing. The leaders' talks are expected to focus on the war
with Iran, which has seriously disrupted trade in oil, gas and
other products and rattled the global economy.
It happened hours after Israel said Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu had quietly visited the United Arab Emirates during
the Israeli-U.S. war with Iran, though the UAE swiftly denied
that any secret visit had occurred.
The Gulf nation normalized relations with Israel in 2020. Iran
has criticized that agreement and has repeatedly suggested over
the years that Israel maintained a military and intelligence
presence in the Emirates.
Israeli leaders have made occasional visits to the UAE in recent
years after normalizing relations.
UKMTO did not name the ship and said it is investigating. There
were no immediate claims of responsibility for the seizure.
Fujairah is an important oil export terminal and the UAE’s main
port outside of the Persian Gulf. It has been repeatedly
attacked during the war with Iran.
Iran has seized a number of ships since the war began.
Its navy last week seized an oil tanker identified as the Ocean
Koi, saying it was attempting to disrupt oil exports and Iranian
interests, according to the official IRNA news agency.
It said the tanker was seized in the Gulf of Oman and was
carrying Iranian oil when it was boarded and taken to Iran’s
southern coast.
The U.S. sanctioned the Ocean Koi in February, saying it has
been part of a “shadow fleet” that has been transporting Iranian
oil.
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