Iranian military seizes tanker carrying smuggled oil in Persian Gulf

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has detained the Togo-flagged tanker Pearl G with 700,000 liters of smuggled oil in the Persian Gulf, the Iranian news agency reported, citing a military statement.

"The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Friday morning, July 26, 2024, detained in the northern part of the Persian Gulf near the Arash oil field the tanker Pearl G under the flag of the African country Togo, belonging to an Iraqi who lives in the city of Dubai. At that time smuggled fuel from an Iranian vessel was being reloaded onto the tanker," the statement reads.

According to initial estimates, there were at least 700,000 liters of oil on board.

The detention was carried out in accordance with the court decision. Together with 9 crew members, who are citizens of India, the tanker was sent to the port of Imam Khomeini, located in the southwest of Iran in in Khuzestan Province.