The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps seized a new "foreign ship" in the Persian Gulf, Iran's state television reported on Sunday (August 4th). According to Tehran, the tanker was carrying smuggled oil to Arab states.
The Fars news agency, deemed close to the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the regime, did not specify the nationality of the tanker or the crew.
The seven sailors on board were detained, the chain continues, quoting a commander of the Guardians. The oil tanker was carrying "700,000 liters of smuggled fuel around the island of Farsi" in the northern Gulf, the agency said, quoting a statement from the Guardians.
The tanker was transferred to the port of Bushehr and "its cargo of smuggled fuel delivered to the authorities" in coordination with Iranian justice, the source said. The tanker was headed to Arab countries in the Gulf, according to General Ramezan Zirahi, commander of the forces of the Revolutionary Guards who led the seizure.
On July 14, Iran had already seized a British tanker in the Strait of Hormuz accused of maritime law offenses. This intervention followed the arrest by the British forces of an Iranian tanker near Gibraltar. According to London, the ship's crew is accused of violating the sanctions imposed on Syria by attempting to deliver oil to the Damascus regime.
With Reuters and AFP