US forces detain Iran-linked tanker Tifani with ceasefire talks on edge

Ship, detained under US policy to stop all Tehran-linked vessels, is under sanctions for smuggling Iranian crude.United States forces have detained an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean sanctioned for smuggling Iranian crude oil, the Pentagon says.The M/T Tifani was boarded overnight, the US Department of Defense announced on Tuesday. The raid was carried out as a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran was about to expire and a resumption of their talks was on a knife edge.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4US captures Iranian ship Touska amid mediation efforts: All we knowlist 2 of 4Strait of Hormuz: How a threat became a playbooklist 3 of 4Pakistan races against time to get Iran back to US talks as truce end nearslist 4 of 4Trump says he opposes extending Iran ceasefire amid talks uncertaintyend of list“Overnight, US forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the stateless sanctioned M/T Tifani without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility,” the department posted on social media, referring to the US military’s Indo-Pacific Command.The statement said the US is determined “to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran – anywhere they operate”.INDOPACOM oversees a broad region that includes the Pacific and Indian oceans. The exact location of the operation was not made clear.An unnamed US defence official told The Associated Press news agency that the Tifani was captured in the Bay of Bengal between India and Southeast Asia and was carrying Iranian oil.The US military will decide in the coming days what to do with the vessel, for instance, tow it back to the US or turn it over to another country, the official reportedly said.Not a refugeThe Tifani is a Botswana-flagged tanker, according to the intelligence firm Vanguard Tech.Its last signal was detected on Tuesday halfway between Sri Lanka and the Strait of Malacca, according to the maritime tracking website Marine Traffic. Its tracking signal indicated it was heading towards Singapore.