Iranian forces seized a foreign oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, carrying approximately 4 million liters of smuggled fuel. 16 foreign crew members were detained, their nationalities were not disclosed.
Iran seized a foreign oil tanker as it passed through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, state media reported on Friday, UNN writes with reference to CBS News.
Details
Mojtaba Ghahramani, head of the provincial justice department, said the oil tanker was carrying about 4 million liters (25,000 barrels) of smuggled fuel when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy seized the vessel, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Ghahramani said the forces also detained 16 foreign crew members of the tanker, adding that the seizure was a notable "blow" to smugglers. He did not disclose the nationality of the crew or the flag of the tanker.
Addition
As the publication writes, Iran sometimes seizes vessels carrying oil on similar charges in the region. In November, Iran seized a vessel as it passed through the narrow Strait of Hormuz for what it said were violations, including carrying illegal cargo.
The West has accused Iran of a series of attacks on vessels using limpet mines that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as a drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021. These attacks began after US President Donald Trump, during his first term in office, unilaterally withdrew from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, the publication writes.
Iran also seized the Portuguese-flagged cargo ship MSC Aries in April 2024, the publication notes.
After years of tension between Iran and the West, as well as the situation in the Gaza Strip, Iran in June experienced a full-scale 12-day war with Israel, whose strikes led to the deaths of high-ranking military commanders and nuclear scientists. In response, Iran's missile attack killed 28 people in Israel.
Tehran has long threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway in the Persian Gulf region through which 20% of all oil trade passes. The US Navy has long patrolled the Middle East through its 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, to keep the waterways open.
