Since 2019, there has been a series of attacks on shipping in strategic Gulf waters at times of tension between the United States and Iran.
The ships left the port of Bandar Abbas in September 2022 and spent some 236 days on their long journey, crossing 63,000 km of water according to Iran.
The incident comes after Iran on Thursday seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman called the Advantage Sweet.
Iran frequently takes ships and uses them as bargaining chips, often using naval commandos to seize the ships.
The US Navy identified the vessel as the Advantage Sweet which, according to Refinitiv ship tracking data, is a Suezmax crude tanker.
Iran’s interests additionally relate to building up its ties with the Gulf, including Iraq, Oman and Saudi Arabia. This would cement a kind of arc of southern arrangements.
After the UAE and Saudi Arabia reconciled with Tehran, it would make sense for Iran to reach out to Bahrain.
The Iranian arms shipment to Yemen is part of a growing trend of Iranian attempts to smuggle weapons to Yemen.
The increased Iranian presence and its aggression in the Red Sea has raised concerns in the Israeli security apparatus.
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