The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy seized a tanker carrying hundreds of liters of smuggled fuel in the waters of the Persian Gulf.
On Thursday, Fars News Agency reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ naval forces seized the ship, which was carrying 900 tons of smuggled fuel, and arrested the 12 crew members.
No further details were announced about the identity of the ship and the nationality of its crew members.
The report indicates that ships carrying smuggled fuel in the Persian Gulf are confiscated by court order, and states that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy seized more than 50 million liters of smuggled fuel, especially diesel, during various missions last year.
The report came as Iranian maritime authorities said they were seeking to seize a tanker belonging to US energy company Chevron that damaged an Iranian vessel in the Persian Gulf on July 5 before illegally diverting it into Iranian territorial waters.
Five people were seriously injured in the collision of the Bahamas-flagged tanker and the Iranian ship, which was carrying seven crew members at the time of the accident.
Over the past few years, the IRGC Navy has thwarted several attacks on Iranian and foreign tankers in the strategic Persian Gulf region and other high seas.
A report by Fars News Agency in late April showed that Iran was losing about $4 billion annually by fueling smuggling.
Figures in the report show that around five million liters of petrol distributed to motorists in Iran ends up in the hands of fuel smugglers operating on the country’s southeastern and southern borders.
The figures showed that around 10 million liters of diesel is also smuggled out of Iran every day under loosened restrictions at some Iranian power plants where diesel is burned to generate electricity.
