Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy claimed to have seized two tankers in the Persian Gulf, claiming they carried over one million litres of smuggled fuel. Fifteen foreign crew members were detained as Tehran alleged the vessels were part of an organised smuggling network near Farsi Island. The action follows recent U.S. seizures of ships transporting sanctioned Iranian oil. On Feb 3, a tense encounter unfolded in which IRGC gunboats and a drone approached a U.S.-flagged tanker before an American Navy destroyer intervened. Iran disputes the U.S. account, accusing the vessel of entering its waters illegally. The flare-up comes days before U.S.–Iran nuclear talks in Oman.
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