Iran announces seizure of another oil tanker

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized a foreign oil tanker in the Persian Gulf last Wednesday, compounding concerns about the safety of shipping in a region crucial to oil exports.

The vessel — the third foreign ship seized by the guards in the Gulf since July 14 — is suspected of smuggling a large volume of fuel, the semiofficial Iranian Students’ News Agency reported, without giving any details about the flag or nationality of the ship or its operator. The agency cited the public affairs office of the IRGC’s second naval division.

The ship was carrying just over 4,400 barrels of smuggled fuel when it was seized near Farsi Island in the western part of the Persian Gulf, off Iran’s southwestern coast near the Iraq border, ISNA reported, citing the guards’ public affairs office.

That’s about 400 miles from the Strait of Hormuz, which has been at the center of Iran’s standoff with the West in recent weeks.

The allegedly smuggled volume is minuscule. The largest supertankers are capable of hauling cargoes of 2 million barrels.

Tensions have flared in the strait as Iran resists U.S. sanctions that are crippling its oil exports and lashes out after the July 4 seizure of one of its ships near Gibraltar. Iran impounded a British tanker in the passageway 15 days later and continues to hold it.

Hormuz, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, accounts for about a third of the world’s seaborne oil flows. To reduce the risks of navigating the waterway, a growing number of ships have been turning off their transponders to avoid signaling their positions.

The vessel seized last week was taken to Bushehr port on Iran’s southwest coast, and its cargo was confiscated and handed over to the National Oil Distribution Company of Iran’s local branch, ISNA said.