Iran claims it 'impounded' foreign tanker in Gulf

Dubai - Iran has seized a foreign tanker smuggling fuel in the Gulf, state television quoted Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as saying on Thursday. “A foreign vessel smuggling one million litres of fuel in the Larak Island of the Arabian Gulf has been seized,” the station said, adding that the ship was seized on Sunday.

The Revolutionary Guards said the impounded vessel - which Iranian authorities have not yet named - was the same one it towed after it sent a distress call.

Iranian navy vessels came to the assistance of a disabled foreign oil tanker in the Gulf that needed repairs, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying on Tuesday by the semi-official news agency ISNA.