Iran’s IRGC seizes foreign ship carrying 2 mln liters of “smuggled fuel”

Tehran: Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has seized a foreign vessel carrying 2 million liters of “smuggled diesel” in the country’s southern waters, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.
The vessel, carrying the flag of an Oceania country, was identified and seized on Sunday morning by the IRGC’s naval forces 96.5 km off the coast of the southern port city of Bushehr, Tasnim reported, citing the Commander of the IRGC Navy’s second region Heidar Honarian Mojarad.
The officer told reporters in the province that the vessel was seized following a judicial order, noting that its 14 foreign crew members, who were from two Asian countries, had been arrested and were being handed over to the provincial judicial authorities.
Honarian Mojarad said the confiscated diesel cargo was being handed over to the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company.
He stressed that the ship had been under intelligence monitoring since the loading of the fuel cargo, and was seized upon entering the operational area of the IRGC Navy’s second region.
With the government subsidy on fuel prices in Iran, smuggling fuel out of the country is a lucrative racket. Over the past years, Iranian naval forces have seized a large number of ships with smuggled fuel on board.
UNI/XINHUA