Iran Detains UAE Oil Tanker AMARA Near Qeshm Island

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps detained the UAE-owned oil tanker AMARA near Qeshm Island on August 17, according to Anadolu Agency, Middle East Monitor, Maritime Executive and NBC News.

Tehran gave two reasons. The IRGC said the AMARA refused to use Iran's mandated northern transit corridor through the Strait of Hormuz and had not paid the mandatory transit fees Iran has enforced on southbound traffic since July 2026.

The seizure came three days after the area flared up. On August 14 and 15, drone and missile strikes hit two tankers with ties to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in the same stretch of water south of Qeshm Island. MarineRadar tracked 156 new devices watching the Qeshm area in the 48 hours before the AMARA was taken.

Iran had not disclosed the AMARA's cargo, crew size or flag state as of August 18.

The Qeshm corridor is one of the tightest chokepoints in the global oil trade. Southbound traffic from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean has to pass close to Iranian territorial waters, giving the IRGC the ability to enforce its rules on routing and fees against any tanker that fails to comply.

The US Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, confirmed it was tracking the situation, per NBC News. No release date had been announced.

War-risk insurance premiums for the Gulf of Oman and the southern Strait of Hormuz had already risen sharply after last week's strikes. The AMARA detention adds to a run of Iranian seizures and attacks on foreign-flagged tankers in the area since the conflict began in mid-2026.