Iran seizes vessel carrying smuggled fuel in Gulf

Iranian navy in Jakarta, Indonesia on 27 February 2020. [Anton Raharjo – Anadolu Agency]

Iranian authorities have seized a vessel carrying 90,000 litres of smuggled fuel in the waters around Kish Island in the Gulf, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported today, according to Reuters.

The captain and five other crew members were issued with criminal warrants and have been detained, IRNA added.

Iran, which has some of the world’s cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the fall of its currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighbouring states and by sea to Gulf Arab countries.

US-imposed sanctions and closures as a result of the coronavirus pandemic have exacerbated an already unstable economic situation and led to months of protests.

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