Iran Seizes Oil Tanker in Gulf of Oman, Iranian Media Report
Iran seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman carrying six million litres of contraband diesel, with 18 crew members from India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh aboard.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Iran has seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, Iranian media reported overnight from Friday to Saturday, saying the vessel was carrying six million litres of contraband diesel fuel and had disabled its navigation systems.
The Fars news agency, citing an official from Iran’s southern province of Hormozgan, said Iranian forces boarded the tanker off the coast of the Sea of Oman. The report added that 18 crew members from India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh were on board at the time of the interception.
Iranian authorities regularly announce the interception of ships they say are involved in illegal fuel transport in the Gulf, where smuggling is driven by Iran’s low domestic fuel prices. Retail fuel prices in the country are among the lowest globally, making cross-border smuggling particularly profitable.
Last month, Iran also seized an oil tanker in Gulf waters “for carrying an unauthorized cargo,” rejecting claims that the move was retaliatory against another country. The latest seizure came two days after the United States intercepted an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Washington said the ship’s captain was transporting oil from Venezuela and Iran, noting that the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Venezuela in 2022 over alleged ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah.
The seizure comes amid heightened Iranian naval signaling in the region. Last week on Saturday, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy announced the successful test of a new missile capable of traversing the entire length of the Gulf, a development reported by Iranian media following recent “Authority” (Eghtedar) military exercises.
Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said the drills spanned a wide maritime theater, including the Gulf, the Naaz Islands in the Strait of Hormuz, and the Sea of Oman, and were intended to demonstrate newly developed capabilities. He highlighted a domestically produced missile with a range exceeding the Gulf’s length and the ability to be guided after launch, emphasizing preparedness for naval warfare and self-sufficiency in defense production.
Together, the tanker seizure and the recent missile disclosure underscore a period of intensified maritime activity and signaling across the Gulf and adjacent waters, a corridor central to global energy transit and regional security dynamics.