Iranian Revolutionary Guards seize two foreign tankers on smuggling allegations

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Monday seized two foreign tankers in the Persian Gulf carrying over three million litres (792,516 US gallons) of allegedly smuggled diesel fuel, Iranian state media reported.

"These two tankers, with 25 crew members, were engaged in organised fuel smuggling in the central waters of the Persian Gulf and were collectively carrying over three million litres of smuggled diesel fuel," state media reported.

It gave no details on the tanker's nationality or whether the crew had been detained.

The tankers are being transferred to the country's Bushehr port, according to state media.

Mehdi Mehrangiz, a senior judiciary official at Bushehr province, said the ships were seized under a judicial order, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Iran, which has some of the world's lowest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the plunge in the value of its national currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighbouring countries and by sea to Gulf Arab states.

(Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Leslie Adler)