The Latest: US warns of maritime threat in Red Sea off Yemen

The Latest on tensions in the Persian Gulf region (all times local):

8:10 a.m.

U.S. officials are warning that a “maritime threat” has been reported in the Red Sea off of Yemen.

The alert that went out early Saturday did not specify what the threat was. However, it comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S.

The alert from the U.S. Transportation Department’s Maritime Administration read: “A maritime threat has been reported in the Red Sea in the vicinity of Yemen. The nature of the event is potential increased hostilities that threaten maritime security.”

The U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet and the U.S. military’s Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.

The capital and areas of war-torn Yemen remain held by the country’s Houthi rebels, which are allied to Iran. Shipping in the Red Sea has been targeted previously by rebel attacks.

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7:05 a.m.

Satellite images appear to show the once-detained Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya-1 near the Syrian port of Tartus, despite U.S. efforts to seize the vessel.

Images obtained by The Associated Press early Saturday from Maxar Technologies showed the vessel there.

Iranian officials haven’t acknowledged the ship went to Syria. The ship turned off its Automatic Identification System late Monday.

The new images matched a black-and-white image earlier tweeted by John Bolton, the U.S. national security adviser.

Bolton had tweeted: “Anyone who said the Adrian Darya-1 wasn’t headed to #Syria is in denial.”

Authorities in Gibraltar had seized the ship in July over concerns it would break European Union sanctions on Syria. They later released it after they say they received a promise from Iran that the vessel wouldn’t go there.