IRGC seizes foreign tanker near Qeshm, citing $5.2 million fuel smuggling plot

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced the seizure of another foreign oil tanker near Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf, claiming it was carrying around 4 million liters of smuggled fuel. The IRGC Navy detained 16 foreign crew members and transferred both the vessel and its cargo to judicial authorities after the operation on December 24, according to Iran’s state outlet Press TV. The Hormozgan Province Chief Justice Mojtaba Ghahremani confirmed the confiscation order, valuing the seized shipment at over $5.2 million, and warned that the Gulf “will never be safe for smugglers.”