UAE does not own missing oil tanker Riah - report

The United Arab Emirates has rejected the reports of the loss of oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, according to reports. It has been reported that the Panamanian-flagged tanker named Riah is neither owned nor operated by UAE and it was even carrying any UAE personnel.

The oil tanker about which all the controversy has been created went missing on Saturday without giving emergency signals when it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel, carrying the flag of Panama, was last spotted in the direction of Iran, near the island of Qeshm, which has a Revolutionary Guard base on it. The Riah, a 58-meter (190-foot) oil tanker, typically made trips from Dubai and Sharjah in the UAE's west coast before going through the strait and heading to Fujairah on the UAE's east coast. However, something happened to the vessel after 11 p.m. on Saturday.

Earlier today there were reports that a US Pentagon official expressed 'suspicions' that Iran might have detained the tanker but that bubble seems to be busted after UAE has reportedly denied the loss of oil tanker. The politics around oil tankers has been going on for a while. In June, there were two tankers attacked in the Gulf of Oman then the Iranian tanker, Grace 1, was seized by the US Marine officials in the strait of Gibraltar around which a verbal war has been going on between the United Kingdom and Iran.