US Seized Chinese Ship Bound for Iran

The United States forces raided a cargo ship travelling from China to Iran last month amid brewing tensions in the Indo-Pacific region. The news was first reported in the

Wall Street Journal, reflecting increasingly aggressive maritime tactics by the American President Donald Trump's administration.

Unnamed officials told the American news outlet that the US personnel boarded the Chinese vessel several hundred miles from Sri Lanka. It is pertinent to note that this is the first time in several years that the US forces have intercepted cargo travelling from China to Iran.

As per the report, the operation took place in November, just weeks before US forces seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, citing sanctions violations. The US Indo-Pacific Command has yet to confirm the incident. An official told

WSJ

that they seized material “potentially useful for Iran’s conventional weapons." However, the official noted the seized items were dual-use and could have both military and civilian applications.

The source went on to mention that the ship was allowed to proceed further into the interdiction, which involved special operations forces. For years, Iran has been heavily sanctioned by the US. However, neither Iran nor China immediately responded to the report. China regularly calls the US sanctions on Iran "illegal".

China condemns Venezuela's

Earlier in the day, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun condemned the seizure of the oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, which was brought to a port in Texas on Friday. The action came amid a wider military pressure campaign against Venezuela, which Caracas has charged is aimed at toppling the government of leader Nicolas Maduro.

"Beijing opposes unilateral illicit sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that have no basis in international law or authorisation of the UN Security Council, and the abuse of sanctions”, Guo said on the Venezuelan operation.

Meanwhile, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday the Trump administration would not rule out future seizures of vessels near Venezuela.

With inputs from agencies.