TEHRAN: Iran has seized a boat suspected of being used to smuggle fuel and arrested its 11 crewmembers near a vital oil shipping lane, state television reported yesterday. A naval patrol of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intercepted the vessel carrying 250,000 liters of fuel near the Strait of Hormuz, state TV's website said, citing a commander of the force. "This boat was sailing from Bandar Lengeh towards United Arab Emirates waters before it was seized 20 miles (32 km) east of Greater Tunb island," Brigadier General Ali Ozmayi was quoted as saying.


"The boat's 11 crewmembers have been arrested," he added, without saying when it happened or giving their nationality. State television broadcast footage from the deck of a trawler-sized vessel with open hatches showing tanks full of what appeared to be fuel. It is the second such seizure this month, after a boat suspected of smuggling fuel was detained and its 12 Filipino crew members arrested in the Strait of Hormuz on Sept 7. Iran, which has some of the world's cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the fall of its national currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighboring countries and by sea to Gulf Arab states.


The news of the latest incident comes with tensions brewing in the Gulf after weekend drone attacks on two major Saudi oil installations that the United States has blamed on Iran. Arch-enemies Tehran and Washington have been locked in a tense standoff since the US in May 2018 unilaterally pulled out of a multilateral accord that limited the scope of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The escalation has been accompanied by ships being mysteriously attacked, drones downed and oil tankers seized in the Strait of Hormuz - a chokepoint for a third of world's seaborne oil. - Agencies