Tehran, January 4 Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatibzad said on the 4th that the seizure of a South Korean tanker by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the same day was an “ordinary procedure” for technical reasons.
Iranian state media IA quoted Hatibzad as saying that the incident would be dealt with within “legal framework”.
Like other countries, Iran is sensitive to issues such as marine environmental pollution.
According to ISIS, Ismail Makizad, a maritime officer in Iran’s Hormuzgan province, said that the relevant authorities noticed the ship’s violations and warned it in the relevant waters, but the tanker did not listen to the warning but continued to move forward.
According to the website of Iran’s Port and IMO, Masood Polme, the secretary of the Iranian Shipping Association, said on the 4th that the seized tanker was responsible for “multiple violations of marine environmental law” and must provide relevant compensation.
According to Iran’s Fars News Agency, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized a Korean-flagged tanker in the Gulf on the 4th on the grounds that it “has repeatedly violated laws and regulations related to the marine environment”.
The tanker carried about 7,200 tons of petrochemicals, and its crew came from South Korea and several Southeast Asian countries. The ship was seized and docked in southern Iranian ports and handed over to the local judiciary.
