In what would have been the third such incident in the span of a month, Iran naval forces seized a "foreign vessel" operating near the Farsi islands in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, according to the country's state news agency IRNA.
Iranian media revealed the incident on Sunday, quoting a public relations statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy that claimed the vessel was smuggling "700,000 litres" of fuel from Iran. The IRGC says they seized the vessel, which is yet to be identified, in a surprise attack on July 31, "following consultations with the legal and judicial officials."
The Fars News Agency reported that seven "foreign crew members" were arrested, with the ship taken to the Bushehr Port and the fuel handed over. According to the IRGC statement, its boats were patrolling the Gulf to detect illicit trade.
This would be the third time Iran had seized a foreign vessel in the Gulf of Hormuz within a month. The last incident was the capture of the MT Riah on July 14. Then too, state media reported the vessel as smuggling oil from Iran to the Gulf states. Earlier, on July 20, IRGC commandos seized the Britain-bound Stena Impero, officially on the grounds that it had broken regulations.
Farsi Island, where the incident took place, is located in the middle of the Persian Gulf. It is a barren island that has been the site of previous confrontations. In January of 2016, the IRGC apprehended two vessels carrying ten US sailors, accusing them of straying into Iranian territory. The sailors were released 14 hours later.
