Oil tanker Riah, which, according to vessel location tracking websites, stopped transmitting signals on its location in the early hours of 14 July, didn’t issue any emergency signals, a highly-profile Emirate official said on Tuesday.

“The oil tanker is not owned, and nor is used by the United Arab Emirates, it hasn’t trasmitted any SOS signals,” the speaker told a television channel, busting reports that the vessel had changed its course and got lost in the Strait of Hormuz off the Iranian coast.

The tanker, which was making its way through the Strait of Hormuz, stopped reporting its location over two days ago.

Earlier in the day, an unnamed US defense official told The Associated Press that America “has suspicions” that Iran seized an oil tanker based in the UAE.