Iran claims to have seized ‘offending’ oil tanker in Gulf of Oman

State TV releases a video of IRGC forces boarding and detaining the Barbados-flagged vessel, Ocean Koi.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims to have captured an oil tanker, Ocean Koi, in a “special operation” in the Gulf of Oman, saying the vessel was attempting to “disrupt oil exports and the interests of the Iranian nation”, according to state media.In a statement carried by the Fars news agency, a spokesperson from the army said the Iranian Navy’s “rangers and marines directed the offending tanker to the southern coast of the country”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Iran’s stance on US war negotiations explainedlist 2 of 3Iran’s President Pezeshkian seeks to quash divided leadership narrativelist 3 of 3Can China help end the Iran war?end of listAccording to the IRNA news agency, a statement from the army said it would “powerfully defend the interests and assets of the Iranian nation in the territorial waters of our country and will not tolerate any violators or aggressors”.State TV released a video of Iranian forces boarding and detaining the ship. According to Marine Tracker, the vessel is registered in Barbados.Al Jazeera’s Resul Serder, reporting from Tehran, said this is not the first time the IRGC has seized ships, referring to three confirmed cases in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway connecting the Gulf with the Gulf of Oman. However, he explained that it marks a shift in Iran.“Iranians are seeing that the war has changed the strategic environment in the region, and these straits and the Gulf have been used against our national security,” Serder said.‘New maritime regime’He said Iran is coming up with a “new maritime regime”, which will see the country place “new rules, new regulations and new protocols”.The new body will be called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority and will manage passages through the Strait of Hormuz.