Iranian state TV reported July 18 that according to a statement released by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval force, a foreign ship carrying one million liters of smuggled oil was confiscated south of Larak Island near the Strait of Hormuz. According to the IRGC, Iranian ships were on patrol for “organized smugglers” when they came across the tanker and took action “after becoming certain it was smuggling oil through a foreign ship.”

The IRGC statement read that 12 individuals were apprehended and that the seized tanker had the capacity to carry two million liters of oil. 

This incident comes days after another in the Persian Gulf. The oil tanker MT Riah, which is Panamanian-flagged and based in the United Arab Emirates, went missing in the Gulf along with its crew of 25 people. Iran said that the ship sent out a distress signal over technical difficulties, so was guided to Iranian territory. Immediately after the incident, a UAE-based newspaper clarified that the ship does not belong to the UAE. US officials believe the tanker was taken to an IRGC base on Qeshm Island.

The IRGC statement read that today’s seizure was not related to the incident involving the Riah tanker.