US confirms Iran’s IRGC seized tanker smuggling fuel in Gulf
The seizure by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps came just a day the US Navy thwarted attempts by Iran's navy to seize two commercial tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
A senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Monday its naval forces seized a tanker smuggling fuel last week in the Persian Gulf waters.
Commander of the IRGC's second naval district Ramezan Zirahi was quoted by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency as saying the tanker, which he identified as the Nada 2, was carrying smuggled Iranian fuel.
Zirahi said the US military dispatched multiple aircrafts — including A-10s, a P-8 and an MQ-9 drone — as well as two patrol ships to the area in response to the IRGC-N’s attempt to take possession of the ship.
A spokesperson for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain confirmed the IRGC seizure to Al-Monitor.
