Tehran, July 16
Iran has seized a foreign oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman for carrying about two million litres of smuggled fuel and detained the crew, Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary reported on Wednesday.
Iranian law enforcement officers confiscated the oil tanker after it failed to provide the necessary legal documents during inspections, the report quoted Chief Justice of Iran's southern Hormozgan province, Mojtaba Qahremani as saying, without specifying the date of the seizure or the nationality of the vessel and its crew members, news agency reported.
Qahremani said a case was filed, adding the vessel's captain and 16 other crew members were under detention.
In a similar case, Iran's Intelligence Ministry said on June 1 that its forces had dismantled 35 "professional and organised" fuel smuggling networks in three provinces.
After implementing a series of intelligence and operational measures, the ministry's forces successfully infiltrated networks involved in large-scale fuel smuggling from Iran to international dealers. The ministry said on its website that key members of the networks were arrested following the necessary judicial procedures.