TEHRAN – The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) announced that an Eswatini (Swaziland)-flagged vessel carrying 350 liters of smuggled fuel was seized in Persian Gulf waters.
“In line with the protection and preservation of the maritime borders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially the Persian Gulf, a Swaziland-flagged ship carrying smuggled fuel (light oil) was seized,” said General Heydar Moharad, commander of the Revolutionary Guards Navy.
He said the vessel was transferred to shore after the necessary judicial permissions were issued, adding that the vessel containing 350,000 liters of smuggled fuel had been unloaded and handed over to a local oil and gas company in southern Iran. He noted that about 13 people were on board the ship when it was seized, including some from neighboring countries and some from India.
In mid-November, the Revolutionary Guard’s navy, on judicial orders, seized a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker in the southern coastal areas of Cistern and Balochestan.
The ship, named Talara, was sailing through the Strait of Hormuz carrying “Iranian petrochemicals… illegally bound for Singapore,” the Revolutionary Guards said at the time. The tanker’s management company later confirmed that Iran had released the tanker and that all 21 crew members were safe.
Iran, known for having some of the lowest fuel prices in the world due to heavy subsidies and wide price differences with neighboring countries, continues to battle widespread fuel smuggling by land and sea.