West panics as Iran prepares to 'shut' key oil route? 2nd ship seized in Persian Gulf within weeks

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy says it has seized an Eswatini‑flagged vessel in the Persian Gulf carrying about 350,000 liters of smuggled diesel, detaining 13 crew members from India and a neighbouring country and towing the ship to Bushehr under a judicial order for unloading and investigation. The interception, which Tehran frames as part of its drive to curb fuel trafficking, follows last month’s brief seizure of the Marshall Islands‑flagged tanker Talara near the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that handled roughly one‑fifth of global oil flows in 2024 before Iran released the ship and its 21‑member crew after offloading an Iran‑owned petrochemical cargo.