The naval force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reported on 20 November the seizure of a foreign tanker that was smuggling diesel off the coast of Hormozgan Province in the Persian Gulf.

The commander of the Naval Type 412 Zulfiqar, Colonel Ahmad Hajian, told state media that the ship was found to be illegally carrying 150,000 liters (32,995 gallons) of diesel.

“Through intelligence monitoring and in a well-coordinated operation, the marines of this navy managed to seize a foreign ship with 11 crew members in our country’s waters,” Hajian told reporters.

“After the inspection, more than 150 thousand liters of smuggled diesel was seized and the 11 foreign crew members were handed over to judicial offices of the Parsian county,” he added.

The commander did not name the ship, its nationality, or the nationalities of its crew.

However, the IRGC provided footage of the ship’s seizure by special commandos.

تفنگداران سپاه یک کشتی خارجی را که حامل ۱۵۰ هزار لیتر سوخت قاچاق بود، به همراه ۱۱ خدمه‌اش در آب‌های پارسیان توقیف کردند. pic.twitter.com/2dw3Nr7LuD

— خبرگزاری فارس (@FarsNews_Agency) November 20, 2021

The news comes nearly a month after the IRGC confronted the US navy in the Gulf of Oman, taking control of a Vietnamese-flagged oil tanker, named Sothys, that was reportedly being used by the US to steal Iranian oil.

During the events of 25 October, US forces allegedly confiscated a cargo of Iranian oil in the strategic Sea of Oman, transferring the crude to another vessel. Soon after, the IRGC staged a maritime operation against the vessel in question, landing helicopters on its deck and confronting several US warships.