General

Iran has captured an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, according to Iranian media reports from late Friday into Saturday. The tanker had 18 crew members on board, including individuals from India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. The Fars news agency stated that the tanker was carrying six million liters of illegal diesel fuel and had turned off all its navigation systems. Iranian forces frequently report seizing vessels they claim are smuggling fuel in the Gulf. In Iran, fuel prices are among the lowest globally, which makes smuggling it to other nations very profitable. Last month, Iran took another oil tanker in these waters for carrying unauthorized goods, denying claims that it was a response to actions from other countries. This recent capture happened just two days after the United States took control of an oil tanker near Venezuela. The US government said the ship's captain was moving oil from both Venezuela and Iran. In 2022, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Venezuela for its alleged connections to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah.