Iran Seizes Oil Tanker in the Gulf of Oman

Melbourne, July 17 — Iran has seized an oil tanker carrying more than 2 million liters (528,000 gallons) of oil in the Gulf of Oman on charges of smuggling, according to a report from Iran’s state news agency IRNA on Wednesday (July 16).

Mojtaba Ghahremani, head of the judiciary in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, stated that the vessel was detained due to discrepancies in the legal documentation regarding the stored oil.

Without disclosing the nationality of the vessel or its intended destination, Ghahremani said that as part of the investigation, the ship’s captain and all 17 crew members have been taken into custody.

He added that authorities are continuing to verify the ship’s documents, test the fuel, and confirm the quantity of oil onboard. Further details will be released once the investigation is complete.

In recent months, Iran has stepped up maritime patrols, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz and waters near the Persian Gulf—an area critical to global oil shipments.

According to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency, earlier in April, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval unit detained a tanker carrying about 100,000 liters of smuggled oil along with its six crew members. In a separate operation the same month, the IRGC seized two tankers transporting over 3 million liters of diesel and took them to Bushehr port.