Iran seizes 3rd tanker in Persian Gulf

Another foreign oil tanker was seized in the Persian Gulf, Iran’s state media said Sunday. It was the third such ship to be detained by Tehran amid high tensions between Iran and the U.S. after Washington renewed sanctions on Iran’s oil exports.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced it detained the ship’s crew for smuggling about 185,000 gallons of fuel from Iran, according to the semi-official Fars news agency, which cited state television.

Seven sailors were detained. No details about the crew’s nationalities or who owns the ship were given. The ship was reportedly seized near Farsi Island, a small, barren enclave in the Persian Gulf.

It is the second ship in less than a month seized by Iran for allegedly smuggling oil.

Iran detained a British-flagged oil tanker, the Stena Impero, after it allegedly collided with an Iranian fishing boat, then failed to stop.

The Trump administration renewed sanctions on Iran’s oil industry after pulling out a year ago from a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

The Trump administration said last week it will sanction Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, a move likely to ratchet up tensions and narrow the window for dialogue with the Islamic republic.

That decision came after weeks of heated rhetoric and confrontation between the U.S. and Iran as the Trump administration tries to squeeze the regime economically and isolate it diplomatically.