South Korea dispatches anti-piracy unit after Iran seizes oil tanker
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement Monday that the vessel was seized over "environmental pollution."
Iran has seized a South Korean-flagged oil tanker in the Persian Gulf over environmental concerns, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Monday amid mounting tensions with Washington over Tehran’s nuclear activities.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency published photos of the vessel, identified as the Hankuk Chemi, which the outlet said was transporting 7,200 tons of ethanol before the IRGC's naval forces intercepted it at 10 a.m. local time Monday.
“The South Korean tanker was stopped in the waters of the Persian Gulf [for] environmental pollution and after neglecting warnings,” the IRGC Navy said in a statement, accusing the vessel of “violating environmental protocols repeatedly” since departing from the Saudi port of Al Jubail.
The Hankuk Chemi was then escorted to Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas for “further action,” the statement said. Iranian authorities also arrested the vessel’s crew, which included members from South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar.
