Iran seizes oil tanker in Persian Gulf, 17 arrested

Iran on Monday (August 11) seized a tanker carrying over 2 million liters of smuggled fuel near Jask, arresting 17 foreign suspects, Mehr News Agency reports.

The Commander of the Iranian Border Police announced the seizure of an oil tanker carrying more than 2 million liters of smuggled fuel in Iran’s exclusive waters near the port of Jask, in cooperation with the Navy.

Brigadier General Ahmad Ali Goudarzi explained that border guards stationed in Hormozgan Province, with intelligence awareness and using electronic equipment and aerial surveillance, learned that large fuel smuggling networks planned to steal a significant amount of smuggled fuel 23 miles off Kuh-e Mobarak using an oil tanker named Phoenix flying a third country’s flag. This operation was immediately put into action.

The border guards, coordinating with the Navy, successfully stopped the tanker and, upon inspection, discovered 2,030,755 liters of smuggled diesel fuel.

Goudarzi added that 17 foreign suspects involved were arrested and transferred to the relevant authorities in Jask.

Experts estimated the value of the seized fuel at 759 billion Iranian rials.