Iran’s coast guard seized a foreign tugboat and detained its 12 Filipino crew members on suspicion of smuggling fuel in the Persian Gulf.
Iranian state television said the tugboat was carrying nearly 284,000 liters of diesel, Reuters reported Saturday. Iran did not say what national flag the boat was flying.
The country, which has some of the cheapest fuel in the world, has frequently seized boats it claims are smuggling fuel to neighboring countries and Gulf Arab states.
The report comes at the same time satellite images appear to show a once-detained Iranian oil tanker off the Syrian coast after Tehran assured that it would not make its way to the country.
British forces seized the tanker in Gibraltar in July for trying to bring oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions. It was released in August after Iran gave assurances that it would not bring its cargo to Syria, despite a last-minute effort by the United States to prevent its release.
Iran seized a British oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz for alleged marine violations two weeks after the Iranian vessel was detained. Iran freed seven of the 23 crew members of the British tanker this week.
