Iran’s IRGC seizes foreign tanker smuggling diesel in Persian Gulf

Iran’s Islamic Revolution's Guard Corps (IRGC) naval commandos have seized a foreign ship smuggling diesel in Persian Gulf waters.

The foreign vessel carrying smuggled diesel was seized by the Iranian flotilla off the coast of the southern Parsian, Hormozgan Province, on Saturday.

“Through intelligence monitoring and in a well-coordinated operation, the Marines of this navy managed to seize a foreign ship with 11 crew members in our country's waters,” said Colonel Ahmad Hajian, the commander of the Naval Type 412 Zulfaqar in Parsian county.

“After the inspection, more than 150 thousand liters of smuggled diesel was seized and the 11 foreign crew members were handed over to judicial offices of Parsian,” he added.

Hajian underscored that his unit will “decisively encounter” any fuel smuggling in the sea for the support of Iran’s economy.

The IRGC's Navy has also foiled several attacks on both Iranian and foreign tankers.

Earlier this month, it released detailed footage of its confrontation on October 25 against an American act of piracy targeting an Iranian fuel shipment.

During the episode, American forces confiscated the tanker that was carrying a cargo of Iranian oil in the strategic Sea of Oman, transferring its consignment of crude to another vessel.

The IRGC then staged a maritime operation against the second vessel, landing its helicopters on its deck and navigating the ship towards Iranian waters.

Earlier, American forces had confiscated a tanker carrying the cargo of Iranian oil in the strategic Sea of Oman and transferred its consignment of crude to the IRGC-captured MV Sothys, a Vietnamese-flagged ship.

Major General Hossein Salami, during his visit to the IRGC’s marine units in the north of Iran on Sunday, reiterated that the Islamic Republic possesses state-of-the-art marine technologies and that the Islamic Republic will not allow any aggression against its territory.