According to Bloomberg, Iran detained a vessel, along with the crewmembers onboard the vessel, which was transmitting smuggled fuel near the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz.
Specifically, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency report the incident, highlighting that following the vessel’s detention, the authorities also detained 16 Malaysian crew members.
The detained tanker, intercepted close to Abu Musa island, was transferring 1.3 million liters of smuggled fuel, or the equivalent of just 8,000 barrels.
In light of the detention, Ali Azmaei, the naval commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stated that this was the sixth vessel carrying smuggled fuel that the IRGC’s maritime forces have seized.
This is not the first time Iran seized a vessel; in September, they detained another vessel in the Gulf for allegedly smuggling 250,000 litres of diesel fuel to the United Arab Emirates.
