TEHRAN, Jul 23 (NNN-TASNIM) – Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), seized a foreign vessel carrying 1.5 million litres of smuggled fuel, in the country’s southern waters.
The Togo-flagged vessel, with 12 foreign crew members on board, was seized by the IRGC’s naval forces, off the coast of the southern province of Bushehr, following a judicial order, Tasnim quoted Heidar Honarian Mojarad, the commander of the IRGC Navy’s second region, as saying.
He added that, as per the judicial order, the vessel had been transferred to the terminals of a petroleum products company in Bushehr to unload its smuggled fuel, which he said was diesel.
Earlier in the day, Reuters quoted British security firm, Ambrey, as saying that the IRGC had “intercepted a Togo-flagged, UAE-managed products tanker, carrying 1,500 tonnes of marine gas oil.”
It added that, “the vessel had loaded marine gas oil off the coast of Iraq and was destined for the UAE’s Sharjah.”
With the government subsidy on fuel prices in Iran, smuggling fuel out of the country is a lucrative racket. Over the past few years, Iranian naval forces have seized a large number of ships with smuggled fuel on board.– NNN-TASNIM