• Iranian naval forces seize a foreign-registered ship suspected of smuggling fuel in the Gulf.
• Seven crew members, who are foreign nationals, have been arrested and handed over to judicial authorities.
• Iran has one of the world’s lowest petrol prices, which could make fuel smuggling profitable.

Iranian naval forces seized a foreign-registered ship suspected of smuggling fuel in the Gulf and arrested its crew, State media reported on Saturday.

“A foreign vessel carrying 757,000 liters of smuggled fuel has been seized,” the state broadcaster’s website quoted a commander of the Revolutionary Guards maritime forces as saying.

“The seven crew members, who are foreign nationals, have been arrested and handed over to judicial authorities,” General Ramazan Zirahi added, without specifying their nationalities.

It is unknown when the vessel was apprehended or under what flag it sailed.

“The vessel, which intended to transport and deliver its cargo of fuel to other countries, was seized 60 miles off the coast of Iran,” Zirahi said, without specifying whether the cargo originated in Iran.

Iran has one of the world’s lowest petrol prices, which could make smuggling to other countries profitable.

Zirahi stated that the ship was carrying “gasoline,” and that combating smuggling, “particularly organised fuel smuggling,” is one of the IRGC’s naval forces’ priorities in order to support national production and the dynamism of the economy.

In recent months, Iran has announced a number of operations aimed at combating fuel smuggling in the Gulf, where much of the world’s oil is produced and shipped.

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