The unidentified ship was reportedly flying the flag of E-Swatini and was part of what Iran alleges is a massive trafficking scheme to steal Iranian oil and sell it abroad. The IRGC revealed the news on the same day that the Iranian government condemned the United States for staging a similar seizure of a ship accused of carrying illicit oil in the Caribbean following an appropriate warrant process. The U.S. government accused the seized ship in question of carrying sanctioned oil being used to profit the narco-regime governing Venezuela and its allies in Tehran.
The Iranian embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, accused the United States of “piracy” for seizing a ship accused of carrying illicit oil shipments hours after Iran revealed it had seized a ship accused of carrying illicit oil shipments.
According to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, IRGC commander General Heidar Honarian announced that the ship and 13 men on board were captured. He identified the men as Indian and from an unnamed “neighboring country” without elaborating.
“The IRGC said in a Wednesday statement that its naval forces had confiscated an Eswatini-flagged vessel transporting 0.35 million liters of smuggled diesel,” Tasnim reported.
“Iran has stepped up efforts to curb the smuggling of Iranian-made oil products in the Persian Gulf,” the outlet claimed. “These products, mainly motor fuels, are illegally shipped to Arab states in the region, where fuel prices can be more than 20 times higher than those inside Iran.”
In November, Iranian military agents made a similar announcement following the seizure of a ship flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, identified in reports as the Talara. Tehran accused that ship, captured traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, of trafficking in petrochemicals illegally. Reports indicated it was carrying high-sulphur gasoil fuel, but offered little more information at the time.
On Wednesday, Iranian police authorities cited that seizure and other similar operations as being responsible for saving 230 million liters of alleged smuggled fuel taken from, presumably, Iranian state coffers in the past eight months.
“The significant discoveries we’ve made are the result of targeted planning, intelligence oversight, operational cohesion, and decisive action by police and border guard units,” Chief of Police Brigadier General Ahmadreza Radan said, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
“Today, thanks to enhanced equipment capabilities, the development of new technologies, and the operational readiness of our forces, we are witnessing a new phase of intelligent combat against smuggling in Hormozgan,” he claimed, suggesting that “organized smuggling gangs” had become a significant problem for law enforcement in and around the country.
The IRNA reported at the time, without identifying any of the alleged smuggling syndicates involved by name, that the fuel in question “is being smuggled out of the country through cities bordering Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Turkiye [Turkey].”
At the time, the United States military responded to the IRGC seizure by condemning it as illegal terrorist activity.
“Iran’s use of military forces to conduct an armed boarding and seizure of a commercial vessel in international waters constitutes a blatant violation of international law, undermining freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce,” U.S. Central Command, which operates in the Middle East, said in a statement in November. “We call on Iran to articulate to the international community the legal basis for its actions. U.S. forces will continue to remain vigilant and work alongside our partners and allies to promote regional peace and stability.”
The seizure of the oil vessel in the Persian Gulf announced on Thursday followed the revelation by President Donald Trump on Wednesday that the U.S. military had apprehended an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea.
“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela. Large tanker, very large,” he told reporters. “Largest one ever seized in action. And, other things are happening. So, you’ll be seeing that later. And you’ll be talking about that later with some other people.”
Trump offered that the ship was seized “for a very good reason,” but did not elaborate. Attorney General Pam Bondi later published video of the capture and explained that the incident was the product of a warrant against the ship accused of engaging in large-scale trafficking in sanctioned oil.
“Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran,” Bondi said in a statement on Thursday. “For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.”
“This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely — and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues,” she concluded.
Iran’s embassy in Caracas immediately condemned the seizure but did not clarify its involvement in the situation.
“The illegal move by the U.S. government to seize a Venezuelan oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea without any justified or legal reason constitutes a blatant violation of international laws and regulations,” the embassy statement read, accusing the United States of “piracy.”
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