On Monday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that they had seized a foreign oil tanker carrying one million liters of smuggled fuel in Iran’s southern waters.
The vessel that had military backing from the United States was seized by the IRGC naval forces, the commander of the IRGC’s second naval zone announced on Monday.
General Ramazan Zirrahi said that the US Navy tried to interfere through a series of “unprofessional and risky actions” as IRGC naval forces moved to intercept the oil tanker that was involved in smuggling Iranian oil and gas in the Persian Gulf.
“The Americans endeavored to impede this lawful action, making careless and unconsidered movements,” Zirrahi further clarified. An American official had reportedly instructed the captain to halt the vessel and await the arrival of US forces to provide aid.
Last Friday, Iran had made a prior announcement that the Navy branch of the Revolutionary Guard had detained a ship carrying one million liters of smuggled fuel in the Gulf waters. The Iranian News Agency reported that the Revolutionary Guard’s Navy had acted based on an Iranian court order and had detained a crew of 12 on board the ship.
The report also highlighted that, in the previous year, the Revolutionary Guard’s Navy had successfully recovered over 50 million liters of smuggled fuel, reintegrating it into the country’s national reserves.
