"An Iranian oil tanker, which was seized by a foreign
company five years ago, has been returned to the Islamic country in an
operation by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)," reports news
agency IRNA.
On Saturday, the Tehran Times cited reports from
Iranian news agency Tasnim to say that the 10,000-ton oil tanker Purity had
returned to Iranian territorial waters as a result of a court order and a joint
operation by the IRGC Navy and Intelligence Ministry, according to Mojtaba
Qahremani, head of the justice department in Iran’s southern province of
Hormozgan.
“The
seized 10,000-ton oil tanker Purity had been illegally leased to a foreigner by
falsifying documents since 2018 and its Iranian owners were deprived of the
benefits of the oil tanker,” Qahremani was quoted as saying.
In contrast to earlier seizures by Iran, which appeared to
have been limited to disputes over the cargoes on board vessels, the Islamic
Republic implied the capture of the Purity involved the restitution of
Iranian property to its rightful owners.
"The US Department of Defense will be making a series
of moves to bolster our defensive posture in the Arabian Gulf," White
House spokesperson John Kirby told a news briefing on Friday, according to
Reuters.
In the past two years, Iran has harassed, attacked or
interfered with the navigational rights of 15 internationally flagged
commercial vessels, US officials were quoted as saying.
“Following a judicial order and close cooperation between
the IRGC Navy and Intelligence Ministry, the oil tanker was finally identified
and confiscated in the Persian Gulf waters earlier this month,” Qahremani
added.
The Tehran Times said the ship docked in Iran’s Assaluyeh
Port on the Persian Gulf’s westernmost coast to have its fuel consignments
unloaded.
Late in October 2022, forces from the IRGC’s first naval
zone captured a foreign tanker ship carrying 11 million gallons of illegal fuel
in the Persian Gulf, the publication said. “The Islamic Republic has said
unequivocally that the Persian Gulf would never be a safe haven for smugglers.”
In 1986, a series of missile and other attacks on Gulf-bound
tanker shipping led to a surge in insurance rates for tanker owners, and the
creation of a new bunkering hub in Fujairah, as the UAE cashed in on the
agglomeration of shipping at anchor outside the Strait of Hormuz in order to
avoid the conflict.
