Iran seizes foreign tanker suspected of smuggling

Iran's navy intercepted a foreign vessel in the Gulf and arrested its crew on suspicion of fuel smuggling, the second such operation in a week, state media reported.

"A foreign ship, carrying 550,000 liters of smuggled fuel, was seized in the waters of the Persian Gulf," the judiciary chief for Hormozgan province, Mojtaba Ghahremani, told state TV.

"The smuggled fuel was seized and seven crew members arrested," he added, without specifying their nationalities.

"Operational forces and naval vessels of the Islamic republic seized the vessel and escorted it to port," Ghahremani said, adding that "the ship has been handed over to the judicial authorities for legal proceedings and necessary investigations."

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

Last month, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps seized a foreign vessel smuggling fuel in the Gulf and arrested its crew members.

IRIB, a state broadcaster, revealed that the Guards "seized a foreign vessel carrying 200,000 liters (around 53,000 gallons) of smuggled fuel in the north of the Persian Gulf and directed it to Bushehr (port)," quoting a statement by the Navy.

In the same month, State TV reported that Mojtaba Ghahramani, justice chief for Iran's southern Hormozgan Province, announced that naval forces seized a foreign vessel carrying smuggled fuel in the gulf waters.

Ghahramani detailed that "over 220,000 liters of smuggled fuel were seized and 11 foreign crew members were detained for investigation."