Oil tanker 'hijacked by Iranian forces' off the coast of UAE is safe

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

53% : The news came just hours after it was reported that nine armed men - thought to be in the employ of Tehran - had seized the ship and were diverting it to an Iranian port.
52% : Iran 'will not hesitate to protect its security and national interests, and will immediately and decisively respond to any possible adventurism,' foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.
45% : Also in 2019, Iran seized the British-flagged Stena Impero on July 19 in the Strait of Hormuz as it was headed from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas to Dubai.
43% : Iran has used its armed forces to seize a tanker once before - the British-flagged Stena Impero which was detained in the port of Banda Abbas in September 2019.
41% : It was thought the vessel had been boarded by armed men with links to Tehran who began directing it towards the port of Jask, but the boarders have now left the shipApparently responding to the incident, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as calling the recent maritime attacks in the region 'completely suspicious.'
41% : Iran and its proxies have been engaged in a shadow conflict with rivals Israel, Saudi Arabia and their allies around the Arabian Peninsula since at least 2019.
40% : Iran has denied involvement.
40% : Tehran struck in a tit-for-tat action after the Royal Navy seized one of its vessels near Gibraltar.
40% : And in April, Tehran said its freighter Saviz was hit by an 'explosion' in the Red Sea, after media reports said Israel had struck the ship.
40% : The tanker strike comes as Tehran and world powers are engaged in talks in Vienna in an effort to return Washington to a 2015 nuclear deal and lift sanctions, and bring Iran back in compliance with nuclear commitments it waived in retaliation for sanctions.
39% : He denied that Iran was involved.
39% : Britain, Romania and Liberia told the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that it was 'highly likely' that Iran used one or more drones to carry out a deadly tanker attack last week off the coast of Oman.
38% : In July of last year, an oil tanker sought by the U.S. over allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran was hijacked off the Emirati coast, following months of tensions between Iran and the U.S.
37% : In response, Tehran said any move against the national security of Iran will 'face a tough and firm response', while adding that Washington and London will be 'directly responsible for its consequences'.
36% : Iran denied involvement in that suspected drone attack and said on Monday it would respond promptly to any threat against its security.
35% : Iran denied involvement, and it is still not clear who raiders were or why they left
35% : Iran's Revolutionary Guards denied that Iranian forces or allies were involved in action against any ship off the UAE coast, saying the incident was a pretext for 'hostile action' against Tehran, state television reported on its website.
35% : In recent months, there have been several reported attacks on Iranian ships that Tehran has linked to Israel.
33% : The attack was swiftly condemned by Israel, followed by the US and Britain, who blamed Tehran for the strike.
33% : The vessel and its crew ended up in Iran, though Tehran never acknowledged the incident.
32% : Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MailOnline that 'Iran should face up to the consequences of what they've done', while adding that it was 'clearly an unacceptable and outrageous attack on commercial shipping'.
31% : The UK and Romania subsequently blamed the attack on Tehran, and vowed there will be consequences.
31% : Iran has also accused Israel of being behind sabotage attacks against its nuclear sites, and killing a number of its scientists.
30% : On Monday, Washington promised to lead a 'collective response' against Tehran, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling the MT Mercer Street incident 'a direct threat to freedom of navigation and commerce'.
30% : How tit-for-tat exchanges between Iran and Israel have threatened to send the Middle East into a major conflict
26% : The U.S. Navy blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers.
25% : Tensions have increased in Gulf waters and between Iran and Israel since 2018, when then U.S. President Donald Trump ditched Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy.

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