Iran seized a foreign oil tanker it accused of transporting “smuggled fuel” and detained 14 crew members on Sunday, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized the unidentified vessel on Sunday morning, the outlet reported, and claimed it was carrying 2 million litres of smuggled diesel.
It was seized by court order 96 kilometres (60 miles) off the coast of Bandar-e-Bushehr. The crew on board “of Asian origin” were detained.
Tasnim said the ship was from Oceania, without providing any further detail.
It comes just weeks after the navy boarded a
Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker once at the centre of a dispute between Washington and Tehran.
Iran seized the ship in retaliation for a “violation committed by the Suez Rajan ship … and the theft of Iranian oil by the United States”, the Irna news agency reported…..