IRGC Seizes Another Oil Tanker in the Persian Gulf

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced in a statement the seizure of an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, stating that nine crew members were arrested on charges of "fuel smuggling." The statement from the IRGC's third naval zone, published on Monday, August 8, indicates that the tanker named "Perl G," flying the flag of the African country Togo, was seized by judicial order on the morning of Friday, August 5. According to the statement, the owner of the ship is an Iraqi resident in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and it was carrying 700,000 liters of fuel. The IRGC reported that its naval forces seized the tanker near the Arash oil field, a disputed oil platform between Iran and Kuwait, "while unloading smuggled fuel from Iranian vessels" and that it has been transferred along with its nine "Indian" crew members to the "Imam Khomeini" port for custody. This is the second tanker seizure of this kind within a week. On August 1, the IRGC also seized another tanker flying the Togo flag and arrested 12 crew members on charges of "fuel smuggling." The British security company Ambrey reported that this tanker was managed by the United Arab Emirates and was seized by IRGC forces in the southwestern waters of Bushehr port. According to Ambrey, this ship was carrying 1,500 tons of marine gas oil. Shortly after this news was announced, the IRGC confirmed that it had seized a tanker flying the Togo flag due to "fuel smuggling" and transferred it to Bushehr port. The fate of both ships and their crews is currently unclear. Iranian media have reported extensively in recent years on the Islamic Republic's fight against fuel smuggling to neighboring countries. Fuel in Iran is cheaper than in neighboring countries due to government quotas, and the Islamic Republic considers the buying and selling of fuel outside the government system as smuggling and acts against it. On December 15 of last year, the IRGC also announced that it had seized two vessels with a total of 34 foreign crew members for "smuggling" over four million and 500 thousand liters of fuel in the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, the United States and its Western allies have repeatedly stated that Iran uses this pretext to seize ships and tankers, endangering the flow of free navigation. Earlier in February 2023, Iran seized a ship carrying two million liters of "smuggled fuel" near Bushehr port and arrested 14 crew members. Five months later, seven crew members of a Portuguese container ship that was seized on April 14, 2023, on charges of connections with Israel were released.