Iran seized on Friday an oil tanker en route to Singapore after it passed the critical Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East in the first major escalation of the tensions in the region since the Iran-Israel war in June. The Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Talara was seized by Iranian forces in the Gulf of Oman after having passed the Strait of Hormuz from Ajman in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), heading to Singapore. Iran’s forces diverted the ship from the international waters to the Iranian territorial waters, a U.S. defense…