<p>Iranian forces boarded a tanker in international waters, using a helicopter and two ships to take over the vessel, the US Central Command said in a tweet on Wednesday.</p>.<p>"Today in international waters, Iranian forces, including two ships and an Iranian "Sea King" helicopter, overtook and boarded a ship called the 'Wila'," Centcom said.</p>.<p>It also posted grainy black-and-white footage of a helicopter hovering low over a vessel, and what appeared to be two personnel rappelling onto the deck.</p>.<p>The ship was most recently positioned near the Strait of Hormuz -- a chokepoint for a third of the world's seaborne oil -- after floating off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates for about a month, Bloomberg said citing its tracking data.</p>.<p>It said the vessel is a Liberian-flagged chemical and oil products tanker, and that it had stopped in July near the Iraqi oil terminal of Al-Basra where its draft increased, indicating it had picked up a shipment.</p>.<p>Iran and its arch enemy the United States have traded barbs in the past year over a spate of incidents in the sensitive waters of the Gulf.</p>.<p>The escalation of Iran-US tensions last year saw ships mysteriously attacked, drones downed and oil tankers seized in the strait.</p>.<p>In July 2019, Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero in the waterway for allegedly ramming a fishing boat and released it two months later.</p>.<p>The Guards seized at least six other ships last year over alleged fuel smuggling.</p>.<p>Tensions have escalated since 2018 when Trump withdrew the United States from a multinational accord that froze Iran's nuclear programme, and reimposed crippling sanctions on its economy.</p>
<p>Iranian forces boarded a tanker in international waters, using a helicopter and two ships to take over the vessel, the US Central Command said in a tweet on Wednesday.</p>.<p>"Today in international waters, Iranian forces, including two ships and an Iranian "Sea King" helicopter, overtook and boarded a ship called the 'Wila'," Centcom said.</p>.<p>It also posted grainy black-and-white footage of a helicopter hovering low over a vessel, and what appeared to be two personnel rappelling onto the deck.</p>.<p>The ship was most recently positioned near the Strait of Hormuz -- a chokepoint for a third of the world's seaborne oil -- after floating off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates for about a month, Bloomberg said citing its tracking data.</p>.<p>It said the vessel is a Liberian-flagged chemical and oil products tanker, and that it had stopped in July near the Iraqi oil terminal of Al-Basra where its draft increased, indicating it had picked up a shipment.</p>.<p>Iran and its arch enemy the United States have traded barbs in the past year over a spate of incidents in the sensitive waters of the Gulf.</p>.<p>The escalation of Iran-US tensions last year saw ships mysteriously attacked, drones downed and oil tankers seized in the strait.</p>.<p>In July 2019, Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero in the waterway for allegedly ramming a fishing boat and released it two months later.</p>.<p>The Guards seized at least six other ships last year over alleged fuel smuggling.</p>.<p>Tensions have escalated since 2018 when Trump withdrew the United States from a multinational accord that froze Iran's nuclear programme, and reimposed crippling sanctions on its economy.</p>