Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has seized another overseas-owned vessel in an alleged fuel-smuggling case.
The unnamed ship was intercepted in the Persian Gulf, Iran’s Tasnim news agency said.
The crew of 10 seafarers was held as well, but it was not clear when the action took place.
The vessel, most likely a small product or bunker tanker, was said to be carrying 1.45m litres of fuel, equating to 500 tonnes.
No details were given on its flag, in common with other recent announcements of detentions by Iranian forces.
Fuel in Iran is heavily subsidised, so smuggling it out to neighbouring countries is said to be rampant.
Tasnim cited Mehdi Mehrangiz, the chief justice of the south-western province of Bushehr. He did not give details of the crew members’ nationalities.
Mehrangiz said judicial authorities are currently reviewing the case to determine the appropriate punishment for the crew members.
He added that the vessel was en route to another Middle East Gulf country.
In September last year, the IRGC seized a foreign vessel in the Gulf for allegedly smuggling 757,000 litres of diesel out of the country, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported.
The unnamed vessel’s seven crew members, who were foreign nationals, were handed over to legal authorities.
And in May 2022, Iranian authorities seized a foreign ship also accused of attempting to smuggle fuel out of the country.
The crew was again detained.
That vessel, which was carrying more than 550,000 litres of smuggled fuel, was escorted into harbour in the southern province of Hormozgan for an investigation.
