TEHRAN, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has seized a foreign vessel carrying 1.5 million liters of smuggled fuel in the country's southern waters, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.
The Togo-flagged vessel, with 12 foreign crew members on board, was seized by the IRGC's naval forces off the coast of the southern province of Bushehr following a judicial order, Tasnim quoted Heidar Honarian Mojarad, the commander of the IRGC Navy's second region, as saying.
He added that as per the judicial order, the vessel had been transferred to the terminals of a petroleum products company in Bushehr to unload its smuggled fuel, which he said was diesel.
Earlier in the day, Reuters quoted British security firm Ambrey as saying that the IRGC had "intercepted a Togo-flagged, UAE-managed products tanker carrying 1,500 tons of marine gas oil."
It added that "the vessel had loaded marine gas oil off the coast of Iraq and was destined for the UAE's Sharjah."
With the government subsidy on fuel prices in Iran, smuggling fuel out of the country is a lucrative racket. Over the past few years, Iranian naval forces have seized a large number of ships with smuggled fuel on board. ■
