TEHRAN: Iranian naval forces have seized a foreign-registered ship they said was 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 not known when the vessel was seized, or what flag it sailed under.
“The vessel, that intended to transport and deliver its cargo of fuel to other countries, was seized 60 miles off the coast of Iran,” Zirahi said, but did not say whether the cargo originated in the Islamic republic.
Iran has one of the cheapest petrol prices worldwide, which could make smuggling to other countries a lucrative business.
Zirahi noted that the ship was carrying “gasoline,” and said the fight against smuggling, “especially organized fuel smuggling, is one of the priorities of the IRGC’s naval forces to support national production and the dynamism of the economy.”
In recent months Iran has announced several operations targeting fuel smuggling in the Gulf, where a large amount of the world’s oil is produced and shipped.
Iran seizes ‘foreign’ fuel-smuggling ship, says state media
https://arab.news/vqhcv
Iran seizes ‘foreign’ fuel-smuggling ship, says state media
- It is not known when the vessel was seized, or what flag it sailed under
Iraq welcomes the appointment of Iran’s new supreme leader
- Armed faction Kataeb Hezbollah said it reflects a profound understanding “of the existential challenges confronting the nation”
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani welcomed on Monday the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new supreme leader after his predecessor and father was killed in US and Israeli strikes.
“We express our confidence in the ability of the new leadership in the Islamic Republic of Iran to manage this critical stage,” and to further strengthen “the unity of the Iranian people” amid the current challenges, Sudani said in a statement.
He stressed that Iraq stands in solidarity with Iran and supports “all steps aimed at ending the conflict.”
Iran wields significant influence in Iraqi politics, and also backs armed groups whose power has grown both politically and financially.
Iraq has for decades been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran.
Pro-Tehran Iraqi groups were among the first to welcome the new supreme leader.
The powerful Badr organization said the new leadership represents a “blessed continuity of the path of the Islamic revolution.”
The Asaib Ahl Al-Haq faction said choosing Mojtaba Khamenei shows continuity and “reinforcement of the Islamic republic’s role as a central pillar in the axis of resistance.”
Armed faction Kataeb Hezbollah said it reflects a profound understanding “of the existential challenges confronting the nation.”
“The best successor to the best predecessor,” said Kataeb Hezbollah, which is part of the Islamic Resistance of Iraq — a pro-Iran alliance that has been claiming attacks on US bases since the start of the war in the Middle East.
Senior Iraqi politician and moderate cleric Ammar Al-Hakim wished the new supreme leader “success in following the path of his martyred father... in upholding the word of truth.”
