Iran seizes another tanker accused of smuggling fuel

TEHRAN, Iran — The Iranian Revolutionary Guard seized a ship in the Persian Gulf suspected of carrying smuggled fuel, state media reported Sunday, marking Iran's third seizure of a commercial vessel in recent weeks and the latest show of strength by the paramilitary force amid a spike in regional tensions.

State TV and the semiofficial Fars news agency reported that seven crew members were detained when the ship was seized late Wednesday carrying 700,000 liters of "smuggled fuel" from Iran. The local reports did not provide further details on the vessel or the nationality of the crew.

The news agency reported that the ship was seized near Farsi Island, where an Iranian Guard Navy base is located. The island sits in the Persian Gulf between Saudi Arabia and Iran, north of the Strait of Hormuz.

"This foreign vessel had received the fuel from other ships and was transferring it to Persian Gulf Arab states," Fars quoted Gen. Ramazan Zirahi, a Guard commander, as saying.

This would mark the third vessel seized by the Guard in the past two weeks, and the second accused of smuggling fuel.

The U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, said it did not have information to confirm the reports. Maritime tracking experts also said they did not have any immediate information about the incident or the vessel.

Illegal fuel smuggling out of Iran is a concern of authorities there. Iranian media reported last month that some 8 million liters of government-subsidized Iranian fuel is smuggled daily through Iran's borders to other countries where prices are much higher.

Tensions have soared around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil shipping waterway that lies between Iran and Oman. The U.S. has boosted its military presence in the region and six oil tankers have been targeted in the Gulf of Oman in unclaimed acts of sabotage that the U.S. blames on Iran. Iran has denied any involvement in those attacks.