Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have seized an oil tanker carrying two million litres of fuel in the Persian Gulf off the southwestern Iranian coast, Iranian media reported on Sunday.
According to the IRGC-affiliated local media, the tanker was sailing under the flag of an Oceania state. The vessel, carrying 14 foreign crew members from two Asian countries, was seized about 60 miles off the coast of Bushehr, a port city located in southwestern Iran.
The IRGC stated that the fuel was smuggled in illegally. It was handed over to the National Petroleum Refining and Distribution Company of Bushehr Province after being confiscated by the IRGC.
Earlier this month, Iran’s navy claimed to have captured an oil tanker seized by the US last year. The IRGC also took over two oil tankers carrying about 4.5 million litres of fuel in December, claiming the ships had been smuggling fuel.
The seizure took place against the backdrop of heightened maritime tensions in the region, as Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen intensify their attacks in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. In response to their actions, a coalition led by the US and the UK has been launching retaliatory strikes against the Houthis.
