epa09561872 A handout video grab taken from a video made available by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on 03 November 2021 shows, Iranian soldier on a jet boat in front of a US warship during the seizure of a Vietnam-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman. According to IRGC official website Sepahnews, Iran seized the tanker in the Gulf of Oman on 25 October 2021 which caused some hours tension between Iran and US forces. The tension between Iran and US is going on over Irans nuclear programme. EPA-EFE/SEPAHNEWS HANDOUT "A vessel carrying 900 tons of smuggled fuel with 12 crew members was seized by the Revolutionary Guards' Navy patrol vessels in the Persian Gulf with a court order," Fars news reported from Iran's southern port of Bandar Abbas.
No further detail about the ship has been given.
Iran, which has some of the world's cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the plunge in the value of its national currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighbouring countries and by sea to Gulf Arab states.
British maritime security company Ambrey said on Thursday it was aware of an attempted seizure by Iranian forces of a small Tanzanian flagged tanker, around 59 nautical miles northeast of the Saudi Arabian port city of Dammam.
(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)