The British maritime security firm Ambrey announced that the Iran regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized a UAE-operated fuel tanker in the Persian Gulf on Sunday, according to a report by Reuters.
The Togo-flagged vessel was reportedly in route to Sharjah with a cargo of marine gas oil when it was intercepted 61 nautical miles southwest of the Iranian port of Bushehr.
The incident was confirmed by the IRGC in a statement that accused the vessel operators of being "systematically engaged in fuel smuggling" while asserting that the action was taken in response to a court order.
The news agency reported that the disturbance was most likely a law enforcement operation due to the Islamic Republic’s persistent problems with petroleum product smugglers, who take advantage of the country’s low fuel prices to make high profits in neighboring markets.