Iran seizes tanker carrying 'smuggled' fuel in the Gulf, state media says

Iran seizes tanker carrying 'smuggled' fuel in the Gulf, state media says

Iran has seized another foreign tanker in the Gulf, a state media agency has said.

The vessel, carrying 700,000 litres of "smuggled fuel" bound for Arab states, was intercepted near Farsi Island in the Gulf, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said.

Lebanon's al-Mayadeen TV station reported that it was taken on Wednesday.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Ramezan Zirahi, quoted by state television, said: "The IRGC's naval forces have seized a foreign oil tanker in the Persian Gulf that was smuggling fuel for some Arab countries."

Seven sailors of different nationalities were detained, he said.

"The seizure of the oil tanker was in coordination with Iran's judiciary authorities and based on their order," Fars quoted him as saying.

The reported seizure comes at a time of high tensions in the region, as Tehran struggles to cope with harsh economic sanctions imposed by the US.

The sanctions, which have severely restricted Iran's oil exports, were reimposed after Washington's unilateral withdrawal from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.

That, in turn, prompted Tehran to announce it was relaxing its efforts to comply with the deal.

UK vessels have become involved in the tit-for-tat conflict, after British Royal Marines captured the Iranian oil tanker, Grace 1, near Gibraltar on 4 July.

They said they suspected the ship was taking oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions, but Iran called it an act of "piracy".

The Iranian coastguard detained the Panama-flagged tanker MT Riah on 13 July, accusing it, as with the latest seizure, of smuggling fuel.

Less than a week later, Revolutionary Guard Corps seized the British-flagged Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz.

They accused the Swedish-owned oil tanker of allegedly violating international laws.

On Thursday, the UK's new foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, rejected the chance to swap the tankers.

The US has blamed Iran for two separate attacks using explosives which damaged oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman in May and June - an allegation Tehran has denied. </s> Iran seizes third foreign ship in less than a month

Iranian Revolutionary Guards seized a foreign oil tanker in the Gulf that was smuggling fuel and detained seven crewmen, Iran’s state media reported on Sunday, in a show of power amid heightened tension with the West.

The vessel was intercepted near Iran’s Farsi Island in the Gulf, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said.

The elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has a navy base on Farsi island which is located north of the Strait of Hormuz.

Fars and Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen TV station reported that the tanker was seized on Wednesday.

“The IRGC’s naval forces have seized a foreign oil tanker in the Persian Gulf that was smuggling fuel for some Arab countries,” state television quoted the Guards commander Ramezan Zirahi as saying.

It was carrying 700,000 litres of fuel, he said, without elaborating on the nationalities of the detained crewmen and on which country or company owned the ship.

“The seizure of the oil tanker was in coordination with Iran’s judiciary authorities and based on their order,” Fars quoted him as he as saying. “It was taken to the Bushehr port, where its fuel was handed over to the authorities.”

Iran, which has some of the worlds cheapest fuel prices due to heavy state subsidies and the fall of its currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighbouring countries and by sea to Gulf Arab states.

A spokesman for the US Navy’s Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet said they had no information to confirm the media reports.

Another oil tanker, the Panama-flagged MT Riah, was captured by the elite force last month for “smuggling fuel to other countries”.

Tensions have risen between Iran and the West since last year when the United States pulled out of an international agreement which curbed the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program in return for an easing of economic sanctions on Iran.

Fuelling fears of a Middle East war with global repercussions, the Guards seized British tanker Stena Impero near the Strait of Hormuz in July for alleged marine violations, two weeks after British forces captured an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar accused of violating sanctions on Syria.

Describing the seizure of the Stena Impero in the Strait as illegal, Britain has rejected the idea that it could release the Iranian tanker in exchange for the British-flagged vessel.

Angered by intensified US sanctions designed to strangle its vital oil trade and the failure of Britain and European parties to the agreement to salvage the pact, Tehran has decreased its commitments to the nuclear deal.

Iran also has threatened to block all exports through the Strait, if countries heed US calls to stop buying Iranian oil. A fifth of global oil consumption passes through the Strait from Middle East crude producers to major markets.

After several attacks in May and June on oil tankers — blamed by Washington on Tehran, which denied responsibility — Trump has been trying to forge a military coalition to secure Gulf waters, though European allies have been loath to join for fear of provoking open conflict.

European parties to the deal — Britain, France and Germany — have instead appealed for diplomatic moves to defuse the crisis and have been trying to salvage the pact by exploring ways to shield Iran’s economy from US sanctions.

Tehran has called on them to accelerate their efforts or it will further decrease its commitments to the agreement.

Britain said on July 25 it had started sending a warship to accompany all British-flagged vessels through the Strait.

Iran has repeatedly said it will not allow any disturbance in shipping in the key oil transport waterway, claiming responsibility for the security of the Strait. In an apparent bid to calm tensions in the Gulf, Iran has called for improving relations with its regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Last month, Iran and the UAE revived maritime security talks in Tehran that had been off since 2013.

Iranian media reported on Sunday that Iranian and Qatari coast guards will meet to “improve maritime and border cooperation”. </s> Iran's Revolutionary Guard has seized a foreign oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, which was smuggling fuel to Arab states, and detained seven sailors, state media claims. The move is likely to inflame tensions after the United States tightened sanctions on Iran's oil sector. Iran was blamed for two separate attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman earlier this year. </s> Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday they had detained a "foreign tanker" and its crew for allegedly smuggling fuel, in the latest incident to send tensions soaring in the Gulf.

The announcement follows Iran saying it had come to the aid of a foreign tanker after receiving a distress call -- making no mention of the vessel being seized.

The Guards did not confirm whether the vessel they detained on Sunday in the strategic Strait of Hormuz was the same ship as that mentioned Tuesday by the foreign ministry.

"With a capacity of two million barrels and 12 foreign crew on board, the vessel was en route to deliver contraband fuel received from Iranian boats to foreign ships in farther regions when it was intercepted," the force's Sepahnews website said.

It was seized south of the Iranian island of Larak, the Guards said without detailing the name or provenance of the vessel.

The Guards' statement came after officials said Iran had come to the aid of an ailing tanker on Sunday.

"Iranian forces approached it and using a tugboat brought it into Iranian waters for necessary repairs," foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.

TankerTrackers reported that the Panamanian-flagged tanker Riah, used in the Strait of Hormuz "for fuelling other vessels", had crossed into Iranian waters on Sunday.

According to the online oil shipment tracking service, at that point, the tanker's automatic identification system stopped sending signals.

The incident comes amid a spike in tensions in the Gulf, with US President Donald Trump calling off airstrikes against Iran at the last minute after Tehran downed an American drone.

Washington has blamed Tehran for a series of tanker attacks in recent months in the Gulf, charges Iran denies.

The United States said last week it was discussing military escorts for vessels in the Gulf after Britain claimed Iranian boats threatened one of its tankers.

London said three Iranian vessels had attempted to "impede the passage" of a British oil tanker in Gulf waters, forcing its warship HMS Montrose to intervene.

Iran has rejected the accusation, which followed Tehran warning of "consequences" over an Iranian tanker being seized off the coast of Gibraltar earlier this month.

British Royal Marines helped the Gibraltar authorities detain the vessel, which US officials believe was trying to deliver oil to Syria in violation of separate sets of EU and US sanctions -- a claim denied by Iran. </s> TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian forces seized a ship in the Persian Gulf suspected of carrying smuggled fuel, state media reported Sunday, marking the Revolutionary Guard’s third seizure of a vessel in recent weeks and the latest show of strength by the paramilitary force amid a spike in regional tensions.

State TV and the semi-official Fars news agency reported that seven crew members were detained when the ship was seized late Wednesday carrying 700,000 liters (185,000 gallons) of “smuggled fuel” from Iran. The local reports did not provide further details on the vessel or the nationality of the crew.

The news agency reported the ship was seized near Farsi Island, where a Revolutionary Guard naval base is located. The island sits in the Persian Gulf between Saudi Arabia and Iran, north of the Strait of Hormuz.

“This foreign vessel had received the fuel from other ships and was transferring it to Persian Gulf Arab states,” Fars quoted Gen. Ramazan Zirahi, a Guard commander, as saying.

It was not immediately clear why a ship carrying Iranian fuel would transfer its cargo to energy exporting Gulf states, but smuggling has been a source of concern in Iran. Iranian media reported last month that some 8 million liters of government-subsidized Iranian fuel are smuggled daily to other countries where prices are much higher.

The new claims would make this the third vessel seized by the Guard in the past two weeks, and the second accused of smuggling fuel.

The U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, said it did not have information to confirm the reports. Maritime tracking experts also said they did not have any immediate information about the incident or details on the vessel.

Maritime intelligence firm Dryad Global said that, if confirmed, this is likely to be “another relatively low key interception designed to signal to the West that Iran maintains the capability and intent to exercise its influence” in the Persian Gulf.

Tensions in the Persian Gulf have escalated recently, with the United States boosting its military presence in the region and six oil tankers targeted in the Gulf of Oman in unclaimed acts of sabotage that the U.S. blames on Iran. Iran has denied any involvement in those attacks.

In June, Iran shot down an American surveillance drone in the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump came close to retaliating, but called off an airstrike at the last moment. Washington has since claimed that a U.S. warship downed an Iranian drone in the strait. Iran denies losing any aircraft in the area.

Maritime security in the region was further jolted on July 18, when Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval forces seized a United Arab Emirates-based oil tanker, the Panamanian-flagged MT Riah, for allegedly smuggling some 1 million liters (264,000 gallons) of fuel from Iranian smugglers to foreign customers.

The following day, the Guard seized a British-flagged vessel in the Gulf in what some Iranian officials suggested was retaliation for the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker in a British Royal Navy operation off Gibraltar, near Spain.

The U.K. says the Iranian oil tanker was suspected of violating European Union sanctions on oil shipments to Syria. Iran denies the ship was bound for Syria but has not disclosed its destination. Officials in Spain initially said the tanker was seized upon request from the United States.

The current tensions stem from Trump’s decision last year to withdraw the U.S. from Iran’s 2015 nuclear accord with world powers and impose sweeping sanctions on the country that have crippled its economy. In response, Iran began openly breaching limits set by the nuclear agreement to pressure European signatories to provide economic relief to help offset the sanctions.

Maritime security around the Persian Gulf is of international importance. The Strait of Hormuz sits at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, a shipping channel for one-fifth of all global crude exports. Petroleum products from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain are exported through the strait to countries around the world.

Some 67,533 ships sailed through strait last year, according to data from maritime publication Lloyd’s List sourcing research by Russell Group.

Ranjith Raja, a senior analyst at data firm Refinitiv, said this latest seized ship by Iran could be a barge or supply vessel rather than a commercial merchant tanker based on the amount of fuel it was allegedly transporting. Due to the numerous supply vessels operating in the area, it was not possible to pinpoint which ship had been seized, he said. </s> TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's Revolutionary Guard has seized an oil tanker carrying 700,000 liters of "smuggled fuel" in the Persian Gulf, Iranian media reported Sunday.

State TV and the semi-official Fars news agency reported that seven crew members were detained when the ship was seized late Wednesday. They did not provide further details on the vessel or the nationality of the crew.

"This foreign vessel had received the fuel from other ships and was transferring it to Persian Gulf Arab states," Fars quoted Gen. Ramazan Zirahi, a Guard commander, as saying.

This would mark the third commercial vessel seized by Iranian forces in recent weeks and the second accused of smuggling fuel. Tensions have soared in the Gulf in recent months as the U.S. has boosted its military presence and oil tankers have been seized by Iranian forces or targeted by unknown saboteurs.

The tensions are rooted in the U.S. decision last year to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear accord and impose sweeping sanctions on Iran. Iran recently began openly breaching limits set by the nuclear agreement, saying it cannot abide by the deal unless European signatories provide some kind of economic relief.

In July, Iran seized a British-flagged vessel in the Gulf in what some Iranian officials suggested was retaliation for the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker in a British Royal Navy operation off Gibraltar. The U.K. says the Iranian oil tanker was suspected of violating European Union sanctions on oil shipments to Syria. </s> In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani speaks in the inauguration ceremony of a power plant in northwestern Iran, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. Rouhani said U.S. financial sanctions on Iran’s foreign minister are “childish” and a barrier to diplomacy. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian forces seized a ship in the Persian Gulf suspected of carrying smuggled fuel, state media reported Sunday, marking the Revolutionary Guard’s third seizure of a vessel in recent weeks and the latest show of strength by the paramilitary force amid a spike in regional tensions.

State TV and the semi-official Fars news agency reported that seven crew members were detained when the ship was seized late Wednesday carrying 700,000 liters (185,000 gallons) of “smuggled fuel” from Iran. The local reports did not provide further details on the vessel or the nationality of the crew.

The news agency reported the ship was seized near Farsi Island, where a Revolutionary Guard naval base is located. The island sits in the Persian Gulf between Saudi Arabia and Iran, north of the Strait of Hormuz.

“This foreign vessel had received the fuel from other ships and was transferring it to Persian Gulf Arab states,” Fars quoted Gen. Ramazan Zirahi, a Guard commander, as saying.

It was not immediately clear why a ship carrying Iranian fuel would transfer its cargo to energy exporting Gulf states, but smuggling has been a source of concern in Iran. Iranian media reported last month that some 8 million liters of government-subsidized Iranian fuel are smuggled daily to other countries where prices are much higher.

The new claims would make this the third vessel seized by the Guard in the past two weeks, and the second accused of smuggling fuel.

The U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, said it did not have information to confirm the reports. Maritime tracking experts also said they did not have any immediate information about the incident or details on the vessel.

Maritime intelligence firm Dryad Global said that, if confirmed, this is likely to be “another relatively low key interception designed to signal to the West that Iran maintains the capability and intent to exercise its influence” in the Persian Gulf.

Tensions in the Persian Gulf have escalated recently, with the United States boosting its military presence in the region and six oil tankers targeted in the Gulf of Oman in unclaimed acts of sabotage that the U.S. blames on Iran. Iran has denied any involvement in those attacks.

In June, Iran shot down an American surveillance drone in the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump came close to retaliating, but called off an airstrike at the last moment. Washington has since claimed that a U.S. warship downed an Iranian drone in the strait. Iran denies losing any aircraft in the area.

Maritime security in the region was further jolted on July 18, when Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval forces seized a United Arab Emirates-based oil tanker, the Panamanian-flagged MT Riah, for allegedly smuggling some 1 million liters (264,000 gallons) of fuel from Iranian smugglers to foreign customers.

The following day, the Guard seized a British-flagged vessel in the Gulf in what some Iranian officials suggested was retaliation for the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker in a British Royal Navy operation off Gibraltar, near Spain.

The U.K. says the Iranian oil tanker was suspected of violating European Union sanctions on oil shipments to Syria. Iran denies the ship was bound for Syria but has not disclosed its destination. Officials in Spain initially said the tanker was seized upon request from the United States.

The current tensions stem from Trump’s decision last year to withdraw the U.S. from Iran’s 2015 nuclear accord with world powers and impose sweeping sanctions on the country that have crippled its economy. In response, Iran began openly breaching limits set by the nuclear agreement to pressure European signatories to provide economic relief to help offset the sanctions.

Maritime security around the Persian Gulf is of international importance. The Strait of Hormuz sits at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, a shipping channel for one-fifth of all global crude exports. Petroleum products from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain are exported through the strait to countries around the world.

Some 67,533 ships sailed through strait last year, according to data from maritime publication Lloyd’s List sourcing research by Russell Group.

Ranjith Raja, a senior analyst at data firm Refinitiv, said this latest seized ship by Iran could be a barge or supply vessel rather than a commercial merchant tanker based on the amount of fuel it was allegedly transporting.Due to the numerous supply vessels operating in the area, it was not possible to pinpoint which ship had been seized, he said. </s> BREAKING: U.S. Central Command released a video it says shows Iran removing a mine from targeted oil tanker.

Capt. Bill Urban, the spokesman for U.S. Central Command, issued a timeline late Thursday that suggested U.S. military assets observed Iranian vessels returning to the Courageous to retrieve the unexploded mine.

“At 4:10 p.m. local time an IRGC Gashti Class patrol boat approached the M/T Kokuka Courageous and was observed and recorded removing the unexploded limpet mine” from the Courageous,” Urban said.

The perilous contest between the United States and Iran for influence in the Middle East escalated dramatically on Thursday as two tankers were targeted in suspected attacks near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global oil shipments.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran for the “blatant assault” on the vessels and said the United States would defend itself and its allies against Iranian aggression in the region. But he provided no evidence that the explosions had been the work of Iranian forces.

The blasts appeared to be a coordinated attack, damaging the hull of a Japanese-owned tanker and striking a Norwegian-owned vessel, which caught fire and was left adrift in the Gulf of Oman.

The incidents were similar to suspected acts of sabotage carried out against tankers near the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah last month and looked to be the latest salvo in the mounting confrontation between the United States and Iran. As the Trump administration has tightened economic sanctions on Iran after withdrawing last year from the historic nuclear deal, Iran and its allies have responded with calibrated attacks in the Persian Gulf area, Iraq and Saudi Arabia aimed at underscoring the potential cost to U.S. interests, including the international oil trade, experts say.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described the incidents Thursday as “suspicious,” and Iran’s naval forces said they were investigating the “accident” in the Gulf of Oman. At the United Nations, the Iranian mission denied any involvement and called the U.S. claim “inflammatory” and “Iranophobic.”

The crews of both vessels were forced to abandon ship. A U.S. defense official said the USS Bainbridge, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer that was in the area, took on board 21 crew members from the Japanese vessel, the Kokuka Courageous.

The suspected attack on the Japanese ship appeared timed to undermine diplomatic efforts by Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who was wrapping up a high-stakes visit to Tehran. He met there with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and was seeking to help mediate potential talks between U.S. and Iranian officials. Abe had called his talks in Tehran “a major step forward toward securing peace and stability in this region,” the Kyodo news agency reported.

The second vessel, owned by Norway’s Frontline, was “suspected of being hit by a torpedo,” an official with Taiwan’s state oil refiner, CPC Corp., which chartered the vessel, told the Reuters news agency.

The tanker, called the Front Altair, was carrying naphtha, a flammable petrochemical product that was loaded at a port in the UAE and was destined for East Asia, news agencies reported. The ship’s 23 crew members — 11 Russians, 11 Filipinos and one Georgian — were rescued by a nearby vessel and transferred to an Iranian navy ship, then taken to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.

Speaking to reporters, Pompeo said that the U.S. assessment of Iranian involvement is based on intelligence, the type of weapons used and the level of expertise needed, and that no Iranian-backed militia in the region has the resources or proficiency to pull off such a sophisticated operation.

He said the impetus behind the attacks was the administration’s “maximum pressure campaign” of sanctions that U.S. officials say are designed to get Iran to negotiate over its nuclear program and its support of militias in various neighboring countries.

“Our policy remains an economic and diplomatic effort to bring Iran back to the negotiating table at the right time and encourage a comprehensive deal that addresses the broad range of threats,” Pompeo said. “Iran should meet diplomacy with diplomacy, not with terror, bloodshed and extortion.”

In New York, the U.S. representative to the United Nations blamed Tehran for the attacks during a meeting of the Security Council, drawing a sharp response from the Iranian mission.

“Iran categorically rejects the U.S. unfounded claim,” the mission said in a statement.

“The U.S. economic war and terrorism against the Iranian people as well as its massive military presence in the region have been and continue to be the main sources of insecurity and instability in the wider Persian Gulf region and the most significant threat to its peace and security,” the statement continued.

“Neither fabrications and disinformation campaigns nor shamelessly blaming others can change the realities. The U.S. and its regional allies must stop warmongering and put an end to mischievous plots as well as false flag operations in the region.”

Shortly after Pompeo spoke in Washington, senior U.S. officials showed photographs to reporters of the damaged tanker Courageous with what the Navy identified as a suspected magnetic mine attached to its hull. The unexploded weapon was probably applied by hand from an Iranian fast boat, one official said, and is thought to be the same kind of weapon used to blow a hole elsewhere in the same tanker and to do more-

serious damage to the other ship, the Front Altair, two officials said.

The officials, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity because many elements of the investigation remain secret, said the type and timing of the attack bear Iranian hallmarks, but U.S. officials cannot yet say with certainty where the mines were manufactured or exactly how they were laid.

“There’s not too many ways in which this can be done,” one official said. “Very few that don’t involve an individual physically placing it on the ship.”

U.S. officials said several nations are consulting about how to respond. One option may be to provide military escorts for commercial tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz, one official said, although no decision has been made.

“As the threat evolves, it’s incumbent on us to reevaluate our presence,” said one senior U.S. official.

The U.S. military has dispatched a P-8 Poseidon, an anti-ship, anti-submarine and surveillance aircraft, to the area in response to the incident, a defense official said.

Senior U.S. officials have frequently been in touch about the incident since Thursday morning, the official added. U.S. Central Command is sending additional troops and weaponry to the Middle East.

[The oil route that could become central to mounting tensions between Iran and the U.S.]

The Gulf of Oman links the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Persian Gulf. The gulf has been a flash point for tensions between Iran and the United States and its Arab gulf allies.

“The tension in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf is now as high as it gets without being an actual armed conflict,” said Jakob P. Larsen, head of maritime security at the Baltic and International Maritime Council, the world’s largest international shipping association. “The increase in attacks and the escalated threat to seafarers is an urgent concern to the industry.”

U.S. officials say the administration’s pressure campaign is aimed at isolating Tehran, curbing its support for regional proxies, restricting its ballistic missile program, and ultimately bringing Tehran back to the negotiating table. But some experts say the recent tensions have underscored the limits of that policy.

In a climate of hostility, the tanker incidents could bring the parties closer to the brink of violent confrontation.

“This is a way station to a wider conflict breaking out between Iran and the United States,” said Ali Vaez, senior Iran analyst and Iran project director for the International Crisis Group. “If Iran was behind it, it is very clear the maximum pressure policy of the Trump administration is rendering Iran more aggressive, not less.”

The attacks could also reflect a widening split between pro-

diplomacy officials in Iran and hard-liners opposed to further negotiations, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC. The paramilitary organization, which boasts land, air and sea forces, answers only to Khamenei and is responsible for Iran’s external military operations.

Iran’s security services, including the IRGC, “have a decades-long history of conducting attacks and other operations aimed precisely at undermining the diplomatic objectives of a country’s elected representatives,” the political risk firm Eurasia Group said in a briefing note Thursday.

“The attacks could have been designed to put an exclamation point on Iran’s warnings to Abe about the risks of instability in the region,” the note said. About 80 percent of Japan’s oil imports come from the Middle East and pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

The attacks occurred 24 nautical miles from the nearest IRGC naval base, one U.S. official said. IRGC ships are frequently present in that area but had not until recently begun to harass or impede shipping, the official said.

“It’s clear that there is a pattern of Iranian naval activity in and around commercial shipping lanes that is inconsistent with their prior behavior,” the official said.

The attacks are part of Iran’s response to tightening U.S. sanctions, one official said. He described the Iranian view this way: “If we can’t ship oil, no one can.”

Gearan and Morello reported from Washington. Simon Denyer and Akiko Kashiwagi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news </s> In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani speaks in the inauguration ceremony of a power plant in northwestern Iran, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. Rouhani said U.S. financial sanctions on Iran’s foreign minister are “childish” and a barrier to diplomacy. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian forces seized a ship in the Persian Gulf suspected of carrying smuggled fuel, state media reported Sunday, marking the Revolutionary Guard’s third seizure of a vessel in recent weeks and the latest show of strength by the paramilitary force amid a spike in regional tensions.

State TV and the semi-official Fars news agency reported that seven crew members were detained when the ship was seized late Wednesday carrying 700,000 liters (185,000 gallons) of “smuggled fuel” from Iran. The local reports did not provide further details on the vessel or the nationality of the crew.

The news agency reported the ship was seized near Farsi Island, where a Revolutionary Guard naval base is located. The island sits in the Persian Gulf between Saudi Arabia and Iran, north of the Strait of Hormuz.

Guard commander Gen. Ramazan Zirahi was quoted by Iran’s state TV saying the ship was seized in Iranian territorial waters and had been transporting diesel fuel. State TV and other local media also ran footage of the ship, but did not show any flag or identifying marker for the vessel.

“This foreign vessel had received the fuel from other ships and was transferring it to Persian Gulf Arab states,” Zirahi said in comments carried by Fars new agency.

It was not immediately clear why a ship carrying Iranian fuel would transfer its cargo to energy exporting Gulf states, but smuggling has been a source of concern in Iran. Iranian media reported last month that some 8 million liters of government-subsidized Iranian fuel are smuggled daily to other countries where prices are much higher.

The new claims would make this the third vessel seized by the Guard in the past two weeks, and the second accused of smuggling fuel.

The U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, said it did not have information to confirm the reports. Maritime tracking experts also said they did not have any immediate information about the incident or details on the vessel.

Maritime intelligence firm Dryad Global said that, if confirmed, this is likely to be “another relatively low key interception designed to signal to the West that Iran maintains the capability and intent to exercise its influence” in the Persian Gulf.

Tensions in the Persian Gulf have escalated recently, with the United States boosting its military presence in the region and six oil tankers targeted in the Gulf of Oman in unclaimed acts of sabotage that the U.S. blames on Iran. Iran has denied any involvement in those attacks.

In June, Iran shot down an American surveillance drone in the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump came close to retaliating, but called off an airstrike at the last moment. Washington has since claimed that a U.S. warship downed an Iranian drone in the strait. Iran denies losing any aircraft in the area.

Maritime security in the region was further jolted in mid-July, when Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval forces confirmed they’d seized a United Arab Emirates-based oil tanker, the Panamanian-flagged MT Riah, for allegedly smuggling some 1 million liters (264,000 gallons) of fuel from Iranian smugglers to foreign customers.

Also in July, the Guard seized a British-flagged vessel near the Persian Gulf in the Strait of Hormuz, in what some Iranian officials suggested was retaliation for the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker in a British Royal Navy operation off Gibraltar, near Spain.

The U.K. says the Iranian oil tanker was suspected of violating European Union sanctions on oil shipments to Syria. Iran denies the ship was bound for Syria but has not disclosed its destination. Officials in Spain initially said the tanker was seized upon request from the United States.

The current tensions stem from Trump’s decision last year to withdraw the U.S. from Iran’s 2015 nuclear accord with world powers and impose sweeping sanctions on the country that have crippled its economy. In response, Iran began openly breaching limits set by the nuclear agreement to pressure European signatories to provide economic relief to help offset the sanctions.

Maritime security around the Persian Gulf is of international importance. The Strait of Hormuz sits at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, a shipping channel for one-fifth of all global crude exports. Petroleum products from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain are exported through the strait to countries around the world. Iran also uses the strait for its exports.

Some 67,533 ships sailed through strait last year, according to data from maritime publication Lloyd’s List sourcing research by Russell Group.

Ranjith Raja, a senior analyst at data firm Refinitiv, said this latest seized ship by Iran could be a barge or supply vessel rather than a commercial merchant tanker based on the amount of fuel it was allegedly transporting.Due to the numerous supply vessels operating in the area, it was not possible to pinpoint which ship had been seized, he said.
Iran seizes a foreign tanker, reported to be Iraqi, in the Persian Gulf, according to Iranian state media. The Iranians accuse the tanker of "smuggling fuel for some Arab countries".