Iran says it seized a 'foreign vessel' smuggling a million liters of fuel in the Strait of Hormuz

Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters

Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz on December 21, 2018. Not the ship Iran seized.

• Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard says it has seized a "foreign vessel" in the Strait of Hormuz, according to state media.
• It said the vessel is accused of smuggling a million liters of fuel.
• The ship had 12 crew members on board when it was seized. The news agency did not say where the vessel came from, and the nationalities of the crew on board.
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Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard corps has seized a "foreign vessel" accused of smuggling a million liters of fuel in the Strait of Hormuz, a state-run news agency reported.

The Revolutionary Guard captured the ship on Sunday in the south of Larak Island, the Mehr news agency reported on Thursday.

The ship had 12 crew members on board at the time, Mehr added. The news agency did not say where the vessel came from, and the nationalities of the crew on board.

The reported capture comes days after a UAE-based, Panamanian-flagged tanker was reported missing in the same region.

Tensions between Iran and the West are running high over nuclear-deal disagreements and the capture of an Iranian oil tanker off the British-controlled territory of Gibraltar.