Iran says detained 'oil tanker' is small smuggler vessel

The oil tanker detained by Iran is actually a small smuggler vessel, according to the state media of Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has commented on the media reports about the seizure of the ship where he says it is not an oil tanker but a small smuggler vessel with a carrying capacity of 'one million liters of oil, NOT one million barrels of oil' and such smuggling occurs on a daily basis.

#Iran FM Zarif told journalists in NY 'Iran has not seized an oil #tanker!'"The seized ship was a small vessel carrying one million liters of oil, NOT one million barrels of oil. We do it every day. These are people who try to smuggle our oil every day," Zarif told reporters. pic.twitter.com/XfE1uQE4Yk

— Press TV (@PressTV) July 18, 2019

Earlier today there were media reports saying that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have seized a foreign oil tanker in the Persian Gulf was smuggling one million barrels of fuel with 12 crew onboard.

There were also some media reports suggesting that the seized vessel belongs to the United Kingdom but the UK, however, denied the reports, stating that the detained ship 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.