US naval forces in the Gulf attacked an oil tanker bound for an Iranian port on Wednesday injuring two people, Iran's state television reported.
Iran's foreign ministry summoned the Swiss ambassador, whose country represents US interests in Iran, later to deliver Tehran's "strong protest" and demand explanation.
Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told the television the Saudi-owned tanker was carrying raw material for unleaded gasoline to the southwestern Iranian port of Abadan when it was intercepted by several US boats and seized.
Asefi said the Americans had released the tanker after Iran lodged the protest.
"We cannot condone this act of harassment and are waiting for a clear explanation from the American government," he said, without mentioning the reported attack or injuries.
The television said earlier the Swiss envoy had told an Iranian Foreign Ministry official the US boats had mistaken the tanker for an Iraqi vessel smuggling oil.
US forces in the Gulf regularly intercept ships suspected of carrying Iraqi oil in violation of UN sanctions imposed on Baghdad for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
An Iraqi vessel sank last month after being boarded by US navy troops enforcing the sanctions in the region.
Tehran and Washington broke diplomatic ties after Iranian militants seized the US embassy in the Iranian capital in 1979 and took its staff hostage.
(China Daily December 20, 2001)
