Tensions Flare Near Strait of Hormuz As a Ship is Seized and Another is Sunk

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – A ship anchored off the United Arab Emirates was seized and taken toward Iran, and another cargo ship sank after being attacked as tensions escalated near the Strait of Hormuz.

It wasn’t immediately clear who was behind these incidents, but they happened as a senior Iranian official reiterated his country’s claim of control over the waterway and another said it had a right to seize oil tankers connected to the U.S.

Iran’s grip on the vital waterway has jolted the world economy and spiked fuel prices far beyond the Middle East.

Just last week, tensions flared in the strait when U.S. forces fired on and disabled Iranian oil tankers that it said were trying to breach its blockade of Iran’s ports.