Iran Guards seize ship smuggling fuel in Gulf: state media

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized a foreign vessel smuggling gas inside the Gulf and arrested its team participants, nation media said Sunday, inside the third such incident pronounced this month.

The Guards “seized an overseas vessel sporting 2 00,000 liters (around 53,000 gallons) of smuggled gasoline in the north of the Persian Gulf and directed it to Bushehr (port)”, state broadcaster IRIB said, quoting an assertion by means of the Guards’ Navy.

“Eight crew members of the vessel, who are foreigners, were arrested and taken to Bushehr port, where they will be handed over to the judicial authorities to complete the investigation and legal processes,” it added.

The crewmen’s nationalities were not specified.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is the ideological arm of Iran’s military.

The incident is the latest in a series of seizures of fuel-smuggling vessels in sea lanes of the Gulf, where a large portion of the world’s oil is produced and shipped.

On April 15, Iranian media reported the seizure of a boat carrying 250,000 liters of smuggled fuel and the arrest of its seven-member crew.

Another boat with 11 crew onboard was seized, in a report on April 9.

“The fight against smuggling, especially fuel smuggling, is one of the main priorities of the IRGC Navy in order to support national production and the dynamism of the country’s economy,” the statement said.