Unidentified armed men have boarded a Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker off the coast of Iran near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a British monitoring organization and a private intelligence firm reported. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization said the vessel was boarded on April 14 while anchored just off the Iranian coast in the Sea of Oman, but added that the ship was later released. The organization urged vessels in the area to “stay vigilant.” Dryad Global, a private maritime intelligence firm, said it was unclear whether the vessel had been in distress or was being assisted by Iran. The company identified the tanker as the Hong Kong-flagged SC Taipei on its way to Al-Jubail in Saudi Arabia. It said the 22 crew members aboard were all Chinese. The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain has not immediately commented on the reported incident, which comes amid heightened tensions […]