TEHRAN- An Iranian oil ship that was illegally stolen by a foreign firm five years ago has been retaken by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy and Iran’s Intelligence Ministry in a joint operation.

The 10,000-ton oil tanker Purity has returned to Iranian territorial waters as a result of a court order and a joint operation by the IRGC Navy and Intelligence Ministry, according to Mojtaba Qahremani, head of the justice department in Iran’s southern province of Hormozgan, Tasnim reported on Friday. 

“The seized 10,000-ton oil tanker Purity had been illegally leased to a foreigner by falsifying documents since 2018 and its Iranian owners were deprived of the benefits of the oil tanker,” Qahremani added.

The head of the Hormozgan Province Justice Department also said that it was recognized during investigations by security groups that the foreign corporation employed the vessel for fuel trafficking.

Qahremani went on to highlight, “Following a judicial order and close cooperation between the IRGC Navy and Intelligence Ministry, the oil tanker was finally identified and confiscated in the Persian Gulf waters earlier this month.”

The ship was said to have docked in Iran’s Assaluyeh Port on the Persian Gulf’s westernmost coast to have its fuel consignments unloaded.

Late in October, forces from the IRGC’s first naval zone captured a foreign tanker ship carrying 11 million gallons of illegal fuel in the Persian Gulf.

The Islamic Republic has said unequivocally that the Persian Gulf would never be a safe haven for smugglers. 

As a result, several assaults on Iranian and international tankers have also been hindered by the IRGC’s Navy over the last years.