Tehran: The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has seized two foreign tankers in the Persian Gulf for smuggling fuel.

According to Islamic Republic News Agency, the Public Relations Department of the IRGC's Second Maritime Region announced that it had confiscated the tankers, identified as Start 1 and Vintage, earlier in the day. The vessels were found smuggling over three million liters of diesel fuel, resulting in the arrest of all 25 crew members on board.

The statement detailed that the tankers were identified through intelligence monitoring by the fighters of the IRGC's Second Maritime Region of Imam Hassan Mojtaba (AS) in Bushehr. Following their identification, the vessels were transferred to the Bushehr oil dock under a judicial order to seize and unload the smuggled fuel.

In recent years, Iranian authorities have intensified efforts to combat fuel smuggling. Iran, where government subsidies maintain some of the lowest fuel prices globally, has faced ongoing challenges with fuel smuggling, particularly along its southern maritime borders. The significant price gap between Iranian fuel and that of neighboring countries has made smuggling a lucrative illicit business.