The Iran Project - The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Iran has seized two foreign oil tankers smuggling over 1.5 million liters of fuel in the Persian Gulf and detained the crew on board.

According to Mohammad Sharif Shirali, the Deputy Commander of the IRGC’s Third Naval Zone, the Panama and Tanzania-flagged vessels named "Stephen" and "Crown" were confiscated upon judicial order.

“In the past two days, the forces of the third zone of IRGC’s Navy seized two oil tankers that were engaged in an organized smuggling of the Islamic Republic’s oil and gas in the Persian Gulf,” the commander stated.

The operation resulted in the confiscation of approximately 1.5 million liters of fuel.

He went on to say that the seized tankers were guided to Bandar-e Mahshahr and Arvand base, and the 37 crew members on board were handed over to legal authorities.

The IRGC’s naval forces are actively monitoring all illegal activities by foreign commercial and military vessels in the Persian Gulf region.

Last year, the IRGC’s Navy confiscated more than 50 million liters of smuggled fuel, primarily diesel, in various missions. The IRGC has successfully prevented several attacks on Iranian and foreign tankers in the Persian Gulf region and other high seas in recent years.