Iran seizes ‘fuel-smuggling’ vessel in Persian Gulf

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Wednesday that it has seized a vessel in the Persian Gulf carrying 4 million liters of what it described as "smuggled fuel."

In a statement, Brig. Gen. Abbas Gholamshahi, commander of the IRGC Navy's First Naval Zone, said naval forces carried out the operation based on precise intelligence and took control of the vessel as it was attempting to leave Iranian territorial waters.

According to Gholamshahi, the ship was carrying 4 million liters of smuggled fuel. He added that 16 non-Iranian crew members were on board the vessel and that the case was referred to judicial authorities for further investigation.

Elaborating on the operation, the IRGC Navy commander said they were closely monitoring maritime traffic in the Persian Gulf when they detected "suspicious activity" by a large vessel.

Intelligence assessments, he said, indicated that the ship had received more than 4 million liters of smuggled fuel from smaller boats and was planning to transfer the cargo to larger vessels outside the Persian Gulf.

Gholamshahi did not disclose the identity or nationality of the 16-member crew, saying they have been handed over to judicial authorities and that further investigations are underway to identify the networks involved.

This comes less than a month after the IRGC Navy seized an Eswatini-flagged ship carrying 350,000 liters of fuel.

At the time, the IRGC said the vessel was transporting "smuggled fuel" in the form of gasoil, which had been brought to the Bushehr coast in southern Iran. Thirteen crew members from different countries were taken into custody.

In late November, Iran seized two vessels it said were carrying 80,000 liters of smuggled fuel near Kish Island in the Persian Gulf. Earlier that month, the IRGC also seized a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker off the Makran coast along the Gulf of Oman.

So far, no country has reacted to the latest vessel seizure in the Persian Gulf.