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IRGC Seizes Foreign-Flagged Vessel for ‘Smuggling’ Fuel

IRGC boats approach a commercial vessel in Gulf waters on April 15. ILNA
IRGC boats approach a commercial vessel in Gulf waters on April 15. ILNA
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IRGC Seizes Foreign-Flagged Vessel for ‘Smuggling’ Fuel

IRGC boats approach a commercial vessel in Gulf waters on April 15. ILNA
IRGC boats approach a commercial vessel in Gulf waters on April 15. ILNA

Iran’s Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced Sunday that it has seized a foreign vessel in Gulf waters for allegedly smuggling 200,000 liters of fuel, in the third such incident this month.

Colonel Gholam Hossein Hosseini, the head of the public relations department of the second naval zone of the IRGC, told Fars news agency that the vessel was seized in the northern part of the waterway.

He said its eight crewmembers were taken to the southern Iranian port city of Bushehr, where they will be handed over to the judicial authorities for complete investigation and legal proceedings.

Five other boats that intended to refuel the foreign-flagged vessel were also taken into custody for further investigation, according to Hosseini.

This is the third time this month that Iranian officials announce the seizure of ships for smuggling fuel in the Gulf.

On April 9, the IRGC said it seized a foreign vessel carrying 220,000 liters of smuggled fuel and arrested the entire 11 crewmembers.

Six days later, the Guard seized a vessel carrying 250,000 liters of smuggled fuel in and detained seven of its crewmembers.

In September 2018, the Iranian Hamshahri newspaper said 30 million to 35 million liters of gasoline were being smuggled across Iran’s borders per day, compared to 15 million to 20 million liters of diesel.

In October 2018, between 20 million and 40 million liters of fuel was smuggled of the country on a daily basis.

Last January, the Washington Post quoted analysts specializing in the energy industry and regional security as saying that the smuggling from Iran involves elements of the Iranian state, notably the IRGC, and private shipping companies based in countries neighboring Iran.

They said the IRGC detains or hijacks vessels when shipping companies seek to smuggle petroleum products without its permission.

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Millions of Children to Suffer from Trump Aid Cuts

Afghan children receive food aid from a local charity in Mazar-i-Sharif on March 2, 2025. Atif Aryan / AFP/File
Afghan children receive food aid from a local charity in Mazar-i-Sharif on March 2, 2025. Atif Aryan / AFP/File
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Millions of Children to Suffer from Trump Aid Cuts

Afghan children receive food aid from a local charity in Mazar-i-Sharif on March 2, 2025. Atif Aryan / AFP/File
Afghan children receive food aid from a local charity in Mazar-i-Sharif on March 2, 2025. Atif Aryan / AFP/File

When he grows up, five-year-old Ahmad wants to be "stronger than Spider-Man".
But his dream clashes with a harsh reality -- the Jordanian boy has a serious disability, and major US aid cuts mean he will likely miss out on vital care.
Like him, millions of children around the world are suffering from the sweeping cuts ordered by US President Donald Trump.
All are grappling with hardship in one form or other: war, crime, global warming, poverty, disease and more.
Ahmad, who has a spinal malformation, cannot hold his torso upright and is paralyzed from the waist down.
The boy was receiving physiotherapy sessions from Handicap International "to strengthen his upper limbs and enable him, later on, to walk with crutches," said his father, Mahmud Abdulrahman, a 30-year-old day laborer.
Abdulrahman said the non-governmental organization was also due to provide orthotics and prosthetics to straighten Ahmad's lower limbs -- none of which he could afford on his meagre salary.
Now, none of that will happen.
The Wehdat Rehabilitation Center they attended in Jordan's capital Amman was one of the first victims of Trump's aid cuts.
More than 600 patients found themselves deprived of care overnight.
Prosthetics already specially designed for around 30 children, as well as wheelchairs, could not be delivered to them, on Washington's orders.
"The movement that was taught will be forgotten," said Dr Abdullah Hmoud, a physiotherapist who worked at the center, describing the potential losses as "catastrophic".
There is also emotional suffering.
When he realized he would no longer see his physiotherapist, "Ahmad stopped eating for three days. He didn't want to get up," said his father.
With the closure of his rehabilitation center, "I feel like they want to kill me," the boy said in a hushed voice.
Global fallout
Ahmad's story is one among many in a wave of horror accounts surfacing from the humanitarian sector since the United States said it was cutting 83 percent of its aid.
USAID -- which the Trump administration has dismantled -- had supported 42 percent of all aid distributed globally, with a $42.8 billion budget.
At a refugee camp in Bangladesh, home to a million Rohingya Muslims who fled persecution in Myanmar, half of them children, Save the Children has been forced to ration food.
The NGO fears desperate families could be pushed to hand over daughters to traffickers or send sons on dangerous sea crossings to Malaysia for work.
In Mozambique, Solidarites International had to shut down a program providing food and water to internally displaced people, including tens of thousands of children.
In Malawi, similar numbers will no longer receive free school meals, according to another NGO which requested anonymity for fear of US reprisals.
Without food, many children will drop out of school -- all the more galling, the NGO said, as millions of meals are reportedly left to rot in warehouses due to the US decision.
"It's like the rug is being pulled out from under their feet," said one staff member.
'Last lifelines'
Women and girls are often the first to lose out, with their education traditionally sacrificed first.
The Norwegian Refugee Council said it will have to "significantly reduce" aid to women and girls in Afghanistan because the US funds paid for many of the female staff who worked with them.
"The very last lifelines for many women and girls will be taken away," said Camilla Waszink, a director at the organization.
Malnutrition already affects 150 million children under five, and the numbers could surge.
"Millions of additional children will suffer stunted growth" and impaired brain capacity, said Kevin Goldberg, director of Solidarites International.
In another blow to children, Washington is expected to drastically reduce funding for vaccination programs in poor countries.
Sania Nishtar, CEO of the Vaccine Alliance, warned the cuts -- if confirmed -- could result in "an estimated 1.3 million children dying from vaccine-preventable diseases".