TEHRAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Iran has recently seized a foreign oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman for carrying about 2 million liters of smuggled fuel and detained the crew, Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary reported on Wednesday.
Iranian law enforcement officers confiscated the oil tanker after it failed to provide the necessary legal documents during inspections, the report quoted Chief Justice of Iran's southern Hormozgan province Mojtaba Qahremani as saying, without specifying the date of the seizure or the nationality of the vessel and its crew members.
Qahremani said a case was filed, adding the vessel's captain and 16 other crew members were under detention.
Iran's subsidized fuel prices have made smuggling fuel out of the Middle Eastern country a lucrative business. In the past few years, Iranian naval forces seized several ships laden with smuggled fuel.
