Iran seizes foreign vessel over alleged fuel smuggling
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced on Sunday that they had seized a foreign-flagged vessel accused of transporting 350,000 liters of smuggled fuel, according to state media. The ship, sailing under the flag of Eswatini, was intercepted and escorted to the port of Bushehr, in southwestern Iran.
State television quoted a local Guard commander who stated that 13 crew members, reportedly from a neighboring country and India, were on board at the time of the seizure.
Iranian forces regularly report the interception of vessels suspected of smuggling fuel in the Gulf region, a strategic maritime corridor that includes the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical routes for oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
Earlier in November, the Guards confirmed the detention of the Marshall Islands–flagged tanker Talara after it abruptly changed course in the Strait of Hormuz toward Iranian waters. According to the Fars news agency, the vessel had been carrying Iranian petrochemical products allegedly being transported illicitly to Singapore. The agency also claimed that the main party responsible was an Iranian individual or company.
Last year, the Revolutionary Guards also seized a container ship, alleging it was linked to Israel following a deadly attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria attributed to the Jewish state.
Despite these incidents, Fars noted that the Talara seizure was not retaliatory. The tanker’s operator later announced on 19 November that the vessel had been released and its 21 crew members were safe.
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