IRGC seize 2 oil tankers with foreign crew for 'smuggling fuel’

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized two oil tankers with their foreign crews in Gulf waters for allegedly smuggling fuel, reported by Iranian media. "More than one million liters of smuggled fuel were found on board of the two vessels," Tasnim reported, and a total of "15 foreign crew members were referred to the judiciary."

The Guards captured the vessels near Iran's Farsi island in the Gulf, the agency said. It added that the tankers were engaged in smuggling operations for several months and were identified and intercepted following surveillance, interception and intelligence operations."

Iranian forces regularly target tankers that Tehran has accused of being part of the illicit trade in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. It is a key chokepoint for global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. The seizure is the latest in a series of similar incidents in recent months.

In a separate incident on Tuesday (Feb 3), the Strait of Hormuz, the US Central Command said IRGC forces had approached a US-flagged tanker at speed and threatened to board and seize it.

Ezzatollah Zarghami, former minister and former head of Iran’s state broadcasting organisation (IRIB), warned that "the Strait of Hormuz will be the place of massacre and hell."

"I am sure that the Strait of Hormuz will be the place of massacre and hell for the US... Iran will show that the Strait of Hormuz has historically belonged to Iran. The only thing the Americans can think of is playing with their vessels and moving them from one place to another,” he continued.