Iran’s IRGC Detains Foreign Oil Tanker in Gulf

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has detained a foreign oil tanker along with 12 crewmembers in the Persian Gulf over suspicions that it was smuggling a million liters of oil, Iran’s state television quoted the IRGC as saying on Thursday. The ship was stopped by the IRGC on Sunday, saying it was the same one it towed after receiving a distress call that it needed repairs. The vessel’s identity remains unknown. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that the Islamic Republic would retaliate after the United Kingdom seized an Iranian supertanker off the coast of Gibraltar last week. That Grace 1, which was carrying 2.1 million barrels of crude oil, was alleged by Britain to be heading to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions. Oil tankers belonging to American allies were attacked off the coast of the UAE and in the Gulf of Oman in May and June, respectively, and the United States and its allies have placed blame on the Islamic Republic.