Iran’s “Foreign” Stuck Ship Is Actually Its Own Sanctioned Vessel

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s state television says a foreign ship ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz after ignoring orders from its military. But the vessel actually belongs to Iran and has been stuck there for months. The ship is the Arista, a container vessel that was previously known as the Gauja. The U.S. Treasury had sanctioned the Gauja for being part of an oil smuggling network that made “tens of billions of dollars” for Iran’s ruling elite. Iranian state TV blurred the ship’s name in its footage. Experts say the ship is flying a “false flag”—claiming to be from the Comoros islands to hide its real ties to Iran. The Arista ran aground north of Hormuz Island in March and has not moved since. It was traveling between two Iranian ports when it got stuck. The U.S. Treasury says the smuggling ring behind the ship was run by the son of a top Iranian security adviser. Both were killed in a U.S.-led airstrike earlier this year. Iran’s government did not respond to questions about the report.