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Iran says it seized lost UAE oil tanker

IRANIAN Revolutionary Guard forces seized a foreign oil tanker accused of smuggling, state television reported yesterday.

The tanker appears to be a United Arab Emirates-based ship that had disappeared from trackers in Iran’s territorial waters over the weekend.

The seizure was the latest in a series of dramatic developments as tensions mount between Washington and Tehran over the unravelling of a nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and  major world powers.

Panamanian-flagged oil tanker the MT Riah stopped transmitting its location early on Sunday near Qeshm Island, on which there is a Revolutionary Guard base, according to data listed on tracking site Maritime Traffic.

Iran’s state TV did not identify the seized vessel or the crew’s nationalities, but reported that it had been intercepted on Sunday.

The oil tanker was said to have 12 foreign crew members on board and to be involved in carrying some 264,000 gallons of fuel from Iranian smugglers to foreign customers.

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