Tehran (Times Of Ocean)- Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said they had seized a foreign vessel loaded with smuggled diesel in the Persian Gulf waters on Friday, state-run media reported.
IRNA says the Commandos with the naval force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have seized a foreign ship in the Persian Gulf, which was carrying more than 250,000 liters of “smuggled fuel”.
The vessel’s seven crew have been detained, IRNA said citing Iranian commander Gholam-Hussien Husseini.
The IRGC has seized an oil tanker for the second time in the past week.
Last Friday, Mojtaba Ghahremani, the Chief Justice of Hormozgan province, says the ship – whose nationality he declined to identify – was carrying more than 220,000 liters of “smuggled fuel”. Same time, a Dhow boat from Iran (A traditional boat used by locals in the Persian Gulf) carrying 20,000 liters of “smuggled diesel” was also seized as it was used to refuel the foreign ship.
The IRGC forces reportedly arrested the vessel’s 11 foreign crew members – whose nationality it declined to identify. The nationalities of the crew members arrested is unknown.
It is not known whether the vessels were in Iranian waters.
Over the past years, Iran has seized dozens of tankers, merchant vessels, and ships sailing in the regional waters in retaliation against Western financial sanctions.
Iranian officials ambush tankers sailing in the Persian Gulf near Iran’s shores in order to seize them.