• Oil tanker violates law by carrying unauthorised cargo: IRGC.
• Vessel departed from UAE and was heading to Singapore.
• Tanker was carrying 30,000 tonnes of petrochemical cargo.
  

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed on Saturday that they had seized an oil tanker in the Gulf off the country’s coast, a day after security companies determined they were likely responsible.

“Yesterday morning at 7:30, after a judicial authority ordered the seizure of the cargo of an oil tanker with the trade name Talara and the flag of the Marshall Islands, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) rapid reaction units of the naval forces monitored its movements and intercepted and seized it,” said a statement from the IRGC, the ideological arm of the Islamic republic’s military.

“The tanker was found to be in violation of the law by carrying unauthorised cargo,” the statement continued, adding it “was carrying 30,000 tonnes of petrochemical cargo and was heading to Singapore”.

The vessel had departed from Ajman in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and was heading south through the Strait of Hormuz when it was approached by three small boats, after which it made a “sudden course deviation”, maritime security company Ambrey said.

The US Navy had earlier said it was “actively monitoring the situation”.

“Commercial vessels are entitled to largely unimpeded rights of navigation and commerce on the high seas,” said the US 5th Fleet, which patrols the region.

The Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global oil and liquefied natural gas, has previously been the scene of similar incidents.

Last year, the Revolutionary Guards seized a container ship, saying it had links to Israel, following a deadly attack on Iran’s consulate in Syria blamed on Israel.

• Mayor warns of “complex” blaze expected to burn long.
• Five factories hit, including chemical and plastics plants.
• 15 fire crews deployed to battle intense industrial blaze.

Powerful explosions rocked an industrial area and ignited a fire south of Buenos Aires on Friday night, officials said, with at least 22 people sent to the hospital.

The incident occurred inside the Spegazzini Industrial Park in Ezeiza, where multiple factories were affected. “The explosions and fire breaking out in the different factories are huge,” said Gaston Granados, mayor of Ezeiza where the events unfolded. He said the cause of the explosions was unknown.

TV footage showed thick smoke pouring from the industrial area, while dramatic videos on social media captured towering flames and a powerful shockwave sweeping through the area. 

The blast, felt across Ezeiza and Canuelas, shattered windows in nearby homes, and some residents told local media they saw an object fall from the sky moments before impact.

Hospital director Carlos Santoro said his facility had received 22 injured people. According to local media, five factories were hit by the explosions and fire. The industrial area features companies making tyres and chemical products, among other goods.

Granados said the flames affected several plants in the industrial park. “One of them is a chemical plant, where the warehouses caught fire, and where there are facilities related to agriculture and fertilisers. There is also a plastics plant called Plasticos Lago,” he told local media.

Granados described the scene as chaotic. “It’s all very confusing. We’re trying to ensure safety in the area and evacuate anyone who might be nearby. Fire crews are working to combat the intense fire that’s burning in all areas,” he said. The mayor confirmed that 15 fire crews responded to the emergency.

“It is a complex fire. It will be a long fire,” said Fabian Garcia, civil defence director for Buenos Aires province.

Granados also addressed early speculation that a small plane may have been involved, saying officials “can neither confirm nor deny that a plane crashed” until the fire is fully under control.

The owner of Sinteplast, a factory located within the industrial park, clarified that his plant was not the source of the fire, despite initial reports. 

“The explosion destroyed everything, gates, ceilings, some structures, and fire pipes were blown off. Fire brigades are on the scene. It was a terrible explosion. It didn’t reach our factory, but the shockwave shook everything,” he told local media.

— With additional input from AFP

• China angered by Japanese prime minister’s Taiwan comments.
• Japan summons Chinese ambassador for diplomat’s comment.
• Wartime history source of continuing China-Japan tension.

China has warned Japan of a “crushing” military defeat if it uses force to intervene over Taiwan, and even cautioned Chinese citizens against visits to Japan, angered by its prime minister’s remarks about the island, which Beijing claims.

Tokyo on Friday summoned Beijing’s ambassador to Japan to protest against a top Chinese diplomat’s online post about Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, continuing a tit-for-tat spat that has run for a week.

Takaichi sparked a diplomatic row with Beijing with comments in parliament last week that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could amount to a “survival-threatening situation” and trigger a military response from Tokyo.

Last Saturday, China’s Consul General in Osaka, Xue Jian, shared a news article about Takaichi’s remarks about Taiwan on X and commented, “the dirty neck that sticks itself in must be cut off” in a now-deleted post.

The Japanese foreign ministry retaliated by summoning the Chinese ambassador to Japan for what it called “extremely inappropriate” statements made by Xue.

Some senior Japanese political figures have called for Xue’s expulsion, but Tokyo has so far only asked Beijing to “take appropriate measures” without elaborating.

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson Jiang Bin said that Takaichi’s words were extremely irresponsible and dangerous.

“Should the Japanese side fail to draw lessons from history and dare to take a risk, or even use force to interfere in the Taiwan question, it will only suffer a crushing defeat against the steel-willed People’s Liberation Army and pay a heavy price,” Jiang said in a statement.

On Thursday, the Chinese foreign ministry summoned Japan’s ambassador to China to lodge a “strong protest” over Takaichi’s remarks.

It was the first time in more than two years that Beijing has called in a Japanese ambassador. It last summoned the then-ambassador in August 2023 over Japan’s decision to release wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea.

The ministry on Friday also expressed “serious concerns” about Japan’s recent military and security moves, including ambiguity over its non-nuclear principles.

Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a press conference that Japan’s decision not to rule out acquiring nuclear submarines indicates a major “negative” policy shift.

Late on Friday, the ministry asked Chinese citizens to avoid travelling to Japan in the near future, citing deteriorating ties over Takaichi’s remarks and the “significant risks” its nationals would face there.

Lingering grievances

Chinese state media has weighed in with a series of vitriolic editorials and commentaries lambasting Takaichi, given lingering grievances about Japan’s wartime past and China’s extreme sensitivity over anything Taiwan-related, just two weeks after Chinese leader Xi Jinping met Takaichi in South Korea.

Takaichi’s remarks were by no means an “isolated political rant,” the Communist Party’s People’s Daily said earlier on Friday in a commentary.

Japan’s right wing has been trying to loosen some of the constraints of the country’s post-World War Two constitution and pursue the status of a military power, said the commentary published under the pen name “Zhong Sheng”, meaning “Voice of China” and often used to give views on foreign policy.

“In recent years, Japan has been racing headlong down the path of military buildup,” the paper added.

“From frequent visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, to denying the Nanjing Massacre, to vigorously hyping the ‘China threat theory,’ Takaichi’s every step follows the old footprints of historical guilt, attempting to whitewash a history of aggression and revive militarism.”

World War Two and the Japanese invasion of China, which preceded it in 1931, remain a source of ongoing tension between Beijing and Tokyo.

Beijing claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out using force to take control of the island. 

Taiwan sits just over 110km from Japanese territory and the waters around the island provide a vital sea route for trade that Tokyo depends on. Japan also hosts the largest contingent of the US military overseas.

Japanese broadcaster NTV reported on Friday the Chinese embassy in Tokyo had instructed its staff to avoid going out due to concerns about rising anti-China sentiment.

In a regular news conference, Japan’s top government spokesperson Minoru Kihara reiterated the country’s position on Taiwan, telling reporters that Tokyo hopes for a peaceful resolution of the issue through dialogue.

‘Self-directed farce’

On Friday, the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office criticised Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Puma Shen, who visited Berlin earlier this week. Shen claimed China was threatening to try to get him arrested while abroad, but that he was not frightened.

“Taiwan independence advocates are already at the dusk of their days and at a dead end,” the office’s spokesperson Chen Binhua said, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

A day earlier, Chinese police issued a wanted notice and offered a $35,000 reward for two Taiwanese social media influencers they accused of “separatism”.

The two influencers took to social media to poke fun at the wanted notice.

One of them, the rapper Mannam PYC, posted a video on Friday where he tried to turn himself in to the police in Taiwan.