Iran Guards say they have seized two ships with smuggled fuel in Gulf

DUBAI: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Friday they had seized two vessels along the country’s coast on the Gulf and the nearby Gulf of Oman for allegedly smuggling fuel.

Iran, which has some of the world’s cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the fall of its currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighbouring states and by sea to Gulf Arab countries. It has frequently seized boats it says are being used for smuggling oil in the Gulf.

Revolutionary Guards naval units seized 250,000 litres of fuel smuggled on one of the ships and 130,000 litres on the other vessel, bringing the total of confiscated fuel in the past week to 650,000 litres, according to a statement posted on the Guards’ official website.

The first ship’s seven crew members have been detained, a Guards official told state TV earlier, adding that they included Iranians and foreigners, without giving further details.

Last week the Guards seized a foreign vessel carrying 220,000 litres of smuggled fuel in the Gulf and detained its crew of 11, Iranian media reported.