Iranian Revolutionary Guards seize foreign oil tanker - report

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have seized a foreign oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, according to the state media Press TV. The report said the vessel was smuggling one million barrels of fuel. The vessel of unknown nationality was said to be with 12 crew onboard was carrying a million liters of smuggled fuel south of Larak island in the Persian Gulf. The tanker was reportedly detained on Sunday while the news has been disclosed on Thursday.

UPDATE#Iran's #IRGC seizes foreign vessel smuggling one million barrels of fuel #PersianGulf #tanker pic.twitter.com/QJRn9xhlhi

— Press TV (@PressTV) July 18, 2019

There were some media reports suggesting that the seized tanker belongs to the United Kingdom but the UK, however, has denied the reports, stating that the detained tanker was not sailing under the British flag.

On Tuesday, the US expressed 'suspicions' that Iran might have detained a 'UAE tanker' Riah which went missing on Saturday without giving emergency signals when it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz. But later the UAE denied the operation or ownership of the tanker and even said the tanker was not carrying any UAE personnel.

The politics around oil tankers has been going on for a while. In June, there were two tankers attacked in the Gulf of Oman then the Iranian tanker, Grace 1, was seized by the US Marine officials in the strait of Gibraltar around which a verbal war has been going on between the United Kingdom and Iran.