Iran Releases Video Of Their Soldiers Seizing An Oil Tanker And Aiming Machine Guns At U.S. Ships that Came To The Scene

Iran releases video of their soldiers seizing an oil tanker and training machine guns on two US destroyers that came to the scene but didn't intervene: Another US warship is swarmed by Iranian drones

MICHELLE THOMPSON, ROB CRILLY 

Iran released a video Wednesday of their soldiers seizing a Vietnam-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman and their troops training machine guns on two US destroyers that were deployed to the scene but did not intervene.

The dramatic takeover happened last week as tension between the countries intensifies, and reports of Iranian drones approaching a US warship in the Strait of Hormuz surfaced.

The Iranian government said in a statement Wednesday that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was foiling a US attempt to seize an Iranian oil tanker.

US officials denied Iran's account, and said America did not try to take over the vessel, Reuters reported.

Sources said in reality, the Iranian forces took control of the Vietnamese-flagged oil tanker MV Southys on October 24 at gunpoint and still holds the vessel off Bandar Abbas.

U.S. forces had monitored the seizure, but ultimately didn't take action as the vessel went into Iranian waters.

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran said in a statement that Americans 'seized an Iranian oil tanker in the Sea of Oman, transferred its oil to another tanker, and taken the tanker to an unknown place. 

'The IRGC forces in a heliborne operation took control of the tanker. Then the American forces pursued the tanker by helicopters and warships but failed to capture it.’

Video footage of the takeover shows gun-toting IRGC troops landing a helicopter on the tanker and storming out to seize control of the oil carrier. 

Another video showed the IRGC canvasing the waters in catamarans as troops pointed their machine guns on the US’s massive warship, which dwarfed Iran’s vessels.

A Reuters report Wednesday indicated that Iranian drones had approached the U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship Essex in the Strait of Hormuz.

The drones had ‘unsafe and unprofessional interactions with the USS Essex warship,’ in the past 24 hours, Reuters reporter Idrees Ali said Wednesday morning on Twitter.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden said Sunday that Iran will pay 'economically' if they do not resume negotiations on the nuclear deal.

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