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Iran said it had a court order to seize the Chevron tanker its naval forces approached and allegedly attempted to capture early Wednesday morning. 

The Maritime Search and Rescue Center of Iran’s Hormozgan Province told the country’s state-run news agency the Iranian navy had an order to seize the Bahamian-flagged Richmond Voyager oil tanker, Reuters reported. 

The tanker was traveling in international waters near Muscat, Oman, en route to the Arabian Sea when it issued a distress call, the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet said. An Iranian vessel came within a mile of the Richmond Voyager, ordered it to stop and fired at it. 

The American guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul arrived on the scene and turned the Iranian vessel away. An Iranian vessel had earlier approached another oil tanker with a Marshall Islands flag in international waters, but the USS McFaul deterred it, according to the U.S. Navy.

Iran said the Richmond Voyager, which it said had collided with an Iranian vessel, did not stop after the incident, leading to the owner of the Iranian ship requesting that it be seized. Iran said the collision injured five people. 

Chevron has said its crew members were safe, and the vessel was operating normally, according to Reuters. 

The U.S. Navy has said no one on the Richmond Voyager was injured in the incident, but bullets hit the ship’s hull near the living quarters. 

Iran successfully seized two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz in the spring. The Navy said Iran has harassed, attacked or seized about 20 internationally flagged merchant vessels since 2021.

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Iran says it had court order to seize Chevron tanker - The Hill