Iran coast guards seize foreign ship for smuggling oil

TEHRAN (AA) - Iranian coast guards seized control of a foreign ship for allegedly smuggling Iranian oil, its media reported on Saturday.

According to the Iranian Fares news agency, the coast guards stopped the ship carrying about 284 thousand liters of smuggled Iranian oil near the Strait of Hormuz.

The Iranian news agency also reported that the coast guards arrested the 12 Philippine nationals on the ship and referred them to the country's judicial authorities.

No comment was made by the US Navy command based in Bahrain which usually follows such incidents.

In July, Iran seized a British-flagged oil tanker and arrested its seven crew members. The incident came as a response to the British seizure of an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar. Arrested crew members were later released.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara