The Trump administration is weighing seizing additional Iranian oil tankers in an attempt to put pressure on Tehran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday evening, citing United States officials.
The move would put significant pressure on Iran’s main source of revenue, according to the officials, but “faces many obstacles.”
The US is concerned about Tehran’s “near-certain retaliation” to such action and the impact it would have on global oil markets, believing that Iran would seize US-allied oil tankers passing through the region or mine the Strait of Hormuz itself.
The Wall Street Journal further noted that such action, or Iran closing the strait “would likely prompt a US military response.”
“Blocking the strait isn’t in anyone’s interest, including Iran’s,” Wall Street Journal quoted Bader Al-Saif, an academic at Kuwait University, as saying. “But if they feel that they’re cornered, they’ll do it. And they have the logistics to do it.”
In recent months, the United States has seized several ships belonging to Iran’s “shadow fleet,” as part of its blockade of Venezuela-related tankers.
According to the Wall Street Journal, officials have said that more than 20 ships transporting Iranian oil have this year been sanctioned by the US Treasury as possible seizure targets, though if the US did board one of these vessels, it would have to divert personnel and other ships to escort the tanker to a location willing to store the oil.
When asked about the possibility of such a thing happening, a White House official said that US President Donald Trump prefers diplomacy but “has multiple options at his disposal if the talks collapse.”
“You could just sit outside in the Arabian Sea and then start with one tanker and then see what happens,” Wall Street Journal quoted Erik Meyersson, a chief emerging markets strategist at the Swedish bank SEB, as saying.
US fighter jet downs Iranian drone near aircraft carrier
Last week, the US military shot down an Iranian drone that approached the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, an American official told Reuters.
The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying towards the carrier and was shot down by a F-35 US fighter jet.
"An F-35C fighter jet from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self-defense and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board," said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson at the US military's Central Command.
No American service members were harmed during the incident, and no US equipment was damaged, he added.