Iran Guards seize two foreign-crewed tankers in Gulf

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have seized two oil tankers with their foreign crews in Gulf waters for "smuggling fuel," the Tasnim news agency reported Thursday.

It was not immediately clear what flags the tankers were carrying nor the nationalities of the crew.

The seizures took place amid heightened tension after Washington dispatched a naval group to the region following Tehran's deadly response to anti-government protests.

"More than one million litres of smuggled fuel were found on board of the two vessels," Tasnim reported, and a total of "15 foreign crew members were referred to the judiciary." 

The Guards captured the vessels near Iran's Farsi island in the Gulf, the agency said. 

The tankers have been "engaged in smuggling operations for several months and were identified and intercepted following surveillance, interception and intelligence operations" by naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, it added. 

Iranian forces regularly target tankers that Tehran accuses of being part of the illicit trade in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.

The seizure is the the latest in a series of similar incidents in recent months.

Retail fuel prices in Iran are among the lowest in the world, making smuggling fuel to other countries particularly profitable.