The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has seized a Panamanian oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state TV. The 12-person crew of MT Riah was accused by Iran of smuggling oil as it neared the Iranian island of Qeshm which is home to a Revolutionary Guard base.
Iranian state TV did not initially identify the vessel but said that a foreign oil tanker was seized on Sunday south of Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz trying to smuggle approximately 1 million liters of fuel from Iran to foreign customers.
Reports from Iranian state TV seemingly contradict a Wednesday statement from Iran’s Foreign Ministry that said Iran had aided a foreign oil tanker that was malfunctioning but did not say that a tanker had been seized by the Iranian government.
The MT Riah, which typically makes trips from the east coast of the United Arab Emirates to the west coast, stopped transmitting on Sunday without a distress signal, fueling suspicions by U.S. officials that the tanker and its crew had been seized.
