Teheran seizes third foreign ship in less than a month

TEHERAN - Iran has seized a foreign tanker in the Gulf, state media said on Sunday, in what would be the third such seizure in a month amid heightened tensions with the United States.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards "seized this ship around Farsi Island which was carrying around 700,000 liters of smuggled fuel", said a Guard statement quoted by the official news agency IRNA.

Seven foreign crew were arrested in the operation carried out on Wednesday night, said Fars news agency, which is considered close to the Guard. It is not known where the ship is flagged.

The seizure of the latest tanker would be the third by Iran in less than a month in Gulf waters - a conduit for much of the world's crude oil.

The Guard said its boats had been patrolling the Gulf to control traffic and detect illicit trade when they seized the tanker.

"The ship was transferred to Bushehr and its smuggled fuel was handed over" to the authorities in coordination with judicial authorities, said a statement.

Fars quoted Brigadier General Ramezan Zirahi, a commander of the Guards who carried out the seizure, as saying the tanker had been en route to deliver fuel to Gulf Arab states.

The reports came after an Iranian general said the chances of a conflict breaking out in the Gulf region had decreased.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday that Iran will take another step away from compliance with a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, according to Iran parliamentary news agency ICANA.

Iran has repeatedly said it will reduce its commitment to the nuclear accord in stages and may even withdraw from the pact altogether unless the remaining signatories find ways to shield its economy from US sanctions. Washington pulled out of the deal last year.

"The third step in reducing commitments to (the nuclear deal) will be implemented in the current situation," he said.

"We have said that if (the deal) is not completely implemented by others, then we will also implement it in the same incomplete manner. And of course all of our actions have been within the framework of (the deal)."

Last month, Iran threatened to restart deactivated centrifuges and ramp up enrichment of uranium to 20 percent purity in a move away from the nuclear deal.

Agencies

(China Daily 08/05/2019 page11)