Its Revolutionary Guards confirmed today that they seized a tanker in Gulf waters that suddenly changed course on Friday to head into Iranian territorial waters.
Yesterday, Friday, at 06:00 Greek time, “following a court order to seize the cargo of a tanker, the Talara, flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, the rapid intervention units of the navy of the Revolutionary Guards monitored its movements, intercepted it and arrested it,” the Guards said in a statement.
“The tanker was carrying cargo for which it was not licensed,” they said.
What did he carry?
“The tanker was carrying 30,000 tonnes of petrochemicals and was heading to Singapore. It was taken to anchorage this morning in order to investigate the violations found,” the Guards explained.
The Revolutionary Guards are a separate force from the national army.
The ship had departed from Ayman, in the United Arab Emirates, bound for Singapore, according to the British maritime safety agency Ambrey.
She was approached by three small boats while crossing the Straits of Hormuz heading south.
The Strait of Hormuz, a critical passage for the global transportation of oil and liquefied natural gas, has been the scene of many incidents in the past.
Last year, the Revolutionary Guards seized a container ship, accusing the ship’s owning company of being “connected with Israel”, following a deadly attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria, which was blamed on Israel.
