Iranian Boats Approach U.S. Tanker in Strait of Hormuz

Iranian naval forces approached a U.S.-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, ordering the vessel to stop but withdrawing after it refused to comply, according to maritime security reports and U.S. officials.

The incident involved the Stena Imperative, which was transiting the strategic waterway about 16 nautical miles north of Oman en route to Bahrain. Six small armed boats, believed to belong to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and operating in three pairs, intercepted the tanker and contacted its captain by radio, instructing him to shut down the engines and prepare for boarding. The vessel instead increased speed, maintained its course in international waters and did not enter Iranian territory. No shots were fired, no boarding took place and the confrontation ended without further escalation. The tanker was later escorted by a U.S. warship through the strait, maritime risk management group Vanguard said.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations acknowledged the encounter earlier in the day, reporting that a group of armed boats had attempted to intercept a merchant vessel in the inbound traffic separation scheme of the strait but provided no...