16-07-2025
Iran seizes foreign tanker in Gulf of Oman
A foreign tanker suspected of smuggling two million litres of fuel has been seized by Iran in the Gulf of Oman, Iranian media reported on Wednesday.
The semi-official Mehr news agency quoted the chief justice of Iran's Hormozgan province as saying the ship was inspected 'due to incomplete legal documentation for its cargo'. It was then seized on suspicion of carrying illicit fuel.
Mojtaba Ghahremani said 17 crew members, including the ship's captain, were arrested and a judicial case had been opened by prosecutors. Mehr did not provide any further information on the ship such as its owner or nationality.
Authorities were 'collecting evidence to determine the exact volume of the fuel cargo, conducting sampling and laboratory tests, and verifying the vessel's documentation', the news agency said.
Iran, which has some of the world's lowest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies, has been fighting fuel smuggling by land to neighbouring countries and by sea to Gulf Arab states.
Last year President Masoud Pezeshkian said there was 'no rationality' in fuel prices in Iran because of the subsidies.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a US-based think tank, last month said in a report that Iran 'faces a severe energy crisis due to decades of mismanagement, excessive subsidies, corruption, and international sanctions'.
Mr Ghahremani said on Wednesday there would be no leniency for fuel smugglers.
'The actions of fuel smugglers, who in co-ordination with foreigners attempt to plunder national wealth, will not remain hidden from the judiciary, and punishment of perpetrators, if their crimes are proven, will be without leniency,' he was quoted by Mehr as saying.
