News - Middle East: Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has seized an oil tanker off the southern coast of Makran after receiving a judicial order.

The IRGC Navy’s public relations office announced on Saturday that its rapid reaction units began monitoring the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Talara at 7:30 a.m. on Friday after a court ordered the vessel’s cargo to be seized.

The tanker, carrying 30,000 tons of petrochemical materials and en route to Singapore, was guided to anchorage for investigation into its violations, the statement said.

The IRGC Navy said in a statement that the “operation was carried out in line with legal duties and for the protection of the national interests and resources of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

It noted that the vessel, its cargo, and documents had been fully investigated, and that the tanker was guilty of “carrying unauthorized cargo.”

US officials said on Friday that the Talara had been traveling from Ajman, United Arab Emirates, onward to Singapore when IRGC forces intercepted it. 

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center also reported the seizure, acknowledging that the Talara had diverted into Iranian territorial waters. 

In May 2022, IRGC forces seized two Greek tankers and held them until November of that year for violations. They also took the Portuguese-flagged cargo ship MSC Aries in the Strait of Hormuz in April 2024.

Source: Press TV