TEHRAN – Commandos with the naval force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) have seized a foreign tanker in the Persian Gulf for smuggling diesel, a military official said Saturday.
Colonel Ahmad Hajian, the commander of the Naval Type 412 Zulfiqar in the southern Parsian county in the Hormozgan province, said the ship was found to be illegally carrying 150,000 liters (32,995 gallons) of diesel.
“Through intelligence monitoring and in a coordinated operation, our navy succeeded in seizing a foreign ship with 11 crew members in our country’s waters,” he said.
The commander added the crew members have been handed over to the local judiciary for processing but did not name the ship, its nationality, or the nationalities of its crew.
Hajian promised to “act decisively” against any attempts to smuggle fuel through the sea in support of Iran’s economy.
The Fars news website released a dramatic video that showed several boats approaching the seized ship. The navy Guards are then shown to board the ship.
The incident comes after Iran seized a tanker called Sothys in the Sea of Oman earlier this month after a confrontation with the United States Navy and kept its cargo.
The IRGC said the ship was being used by the U.S. to “steal” Iranian oil whose exports are banned under unilateral sanctions imposed since 2018 when former President Donald Trump abandoned Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal. The ship was released days after its stolen cargo was discharged in Bandar Abbas.