TEHRAN: On Monday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced on their Sepahnews website that they had seized a Togo-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf and detained its nine crew members for alleged fuel smuggling.
According to the Guards’ statement, “on Friday morning, an oil tanker named Pearl G, carrying the flag of the African country of Togo… was seized by judicial order.” The vessel is “claimed by an Iraqi inhabitant of Dubai, Joined Middle Easterner Emirates,” and it was conveying 700,000 liters of fuel, the assertion added. It claimed that the Guards’ naval forces had captured it “while loading smuggled fuel from Iranian barges” near the Arash oil field. “This oil tanker and its nine Indian-born crew members have been moved to the Imam Khomeini harbor and are under surveillance.”
It is the second such seizure in under seven days. Another oil tanker with the Togo flag was seized by the Guards on July 22 and its 12 crew members were arrested for allegedly smuggling fuel. The destiny of both the vessel and the group stays hazy. Iranian maritime powers routinely declare the confinement of vessels shipping fuel in the Bay.
In late January, Iran held onto a vessel conveying 2,000,000 liters of purportedly snuck fuel. In May, Iran let seven group individuals out of a Portuguese-hailed compartment transport, held onto on April 13, subsequent to blaming them for connections to its curve enemy Israel. Smuggling operations are seeing an increase in profitability as a result of Iran’s low fuel prices.
