Iran's naval forces seized a "foreign ship" in the Gulf, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported on Sunday, the third ship boarded by Iran in less than a month.
"700,000 liters of contraband fuel"
Seven foreign crew members were arrested during this operation that took place on Wednesday, said the Fars news agency, deemed close to the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the regime. It did not specify the nationality of either the tanker or the crew. The naval forces of the Revolutionary Guards seized this ship carrying "700,000 liters of smuggled fuel around the island of Farsi" in the northern Gulf, said IRNA, quoting a statement from the Revolutionary Guards.
The tanker was transferred to the Bushehr port and "its cargo of smuggled fuel delivered to the authorities" in coordination with the Iranian judiciary, 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 seized a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker, the Riah, which was also accused of carrying contraband fuel. On 18 July, a Swedish tanker flying the British flag, the Stena Impero, was seized in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial transit point for world oil.