JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: There are tensions in the Persian Gulf, today, after U.S. forces boarded a Russian merchant ship suspected of smuggling Iraqi oil. That would violate the United Nations' trade embargo against Iraq. CNN military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre is following the story from the Pentagon. Jamie, what's the latest?</s>JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jeanne, the official word from the pentagon is that the inspection is still under way of the Russian tanker. U.S. officials are convinced the tanker is loaded with Iraqi crude oil, because they actually saw the ship go into an Iraqi port and then hug the Iranian coastline, staying in Iranian waters, until they got down to the Gulf of Oman, where the ship was boarded as part of the enforcement of the oil embargo. Russia claims the ship was simply taking heating oil from Iran to the United Arab Emirates and did not enter an Iraqi port. Right now, oil samples from the ship are being analyzed so that the -- there can be a final determination made whether or not this ship was involved in smuggling contraband oil If it was, under the rules of the embargo, the ship would be diverted to a port and the oil would be disposed of and the money would go to the United Nations. But at this point, there has not been a final completion of that inspection. Needless to say, this has not helped U.S.-Russian relations, which have been strained lately over the war in Yugoslavia, Russia's war in Chechnya and also U.S. plans for a national missile defense. The is one more case now where the United States and Russia have a point of contention. But nobody in either Moscow or Washington are portraying this as a major incident, and they're still looking to see exactly how it will be resolved. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, live at the Pentagon.
Tensions Rise After Russian Ship Found Possibly Smuggling Iraqi Oil