/Reuters Agency
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran seized a vessel flying the flag of Eswatini carrying 350,000 liters of smuggled fuel in the Persian Gulf, according to the semi-official Tasnim agency.
“We seized a vessel carrying smuggled fuel in the form of diesel and flying the flag of Swaziland (Eswatini). It was taken to the coast of Bushehr following a judicial order and its contents will be unloaded,” stated Heidar Honarian Mojarrad, commander of the IRGC’s Second Naval Zone.
In line with what was reported by Heidar Honarian Mojarrad, the vessel had a crew of 13 people, mostly from India and countries neighboring Iran.
Iran, which has some of the world’s lowest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the fall in the value of its national currency, has been combating widespread fuel smuggling by land to neighboring countries and by sea to the Arab states of the Gulf.
