FACT CHECK: Video Claims To Show Iranian Navy Seizing US Oil Tanker In 2025

A video shared on Facebook claims to show the Iranian Navy seizing a United States oil tanker in 2025.

Verdict: Misleading

The video was taken in 2024, not 2025.

Fact Check:

President Donald Trump signed an executive order that signaled the return of the tactic of maximum pressure, according to The New York Times.

Social media users are claiming to show a video of the Iranian Navy seizing a United States oil tanker. One user shared the video and said it was from “yesterday,” implying this video was recent.

This video, though, is from last year. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found the video was shared on social media in January 2024. The video apparently shows the seizure of the oil tanker Nicholas ST.

A video from the moment #Iran’s Navy seized the oil tanker Suez Rajan, renamed to Nicholas ST. https://t.co/0tMFV7YdKC pic.twitter.com/9LMbZErA6p

— Iran Nuances (@IranNuances) January 12, 2024

“A video from the moment #Iran’s Navy seized the oil tanker Suez Rajan, renamed to Nicholas ST,” reads the tweet. (RELATED: Was Protestant Leader Removed From Washington National Cathedral?)

The tanker had previously been seized by the United States in 2023 for carrying oil to Iran, according to CNN. It was a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker. Iran stated it seized it in retaliation for the U.S. previous seizure.

“This tanker whose name was changed to St Nicholas and carrying oil in the Oman sea was seized in retaliation for the theft of oil by the American regime, with an order from the judicial courts, and is being transferred to ports of the Islamic Republic to be delivered to the judicial authorities,” reads a statement from the Iranian Navy at the time.