An Iranian oil tanker spotted leaking oil off the coast of Syria was seized last week, i24NEWS reported Tuesday.
The leaking Iranian tanker was seized Friday near the Syrian port city of Banias, where a number of oil refineries are located.
The country responsible for seizing the Iranian tanker was not named in the report, though it was noted that the tanker was violating American sanctions on Tehran, after the Trump administration imposed global sanctions on Iranian oil.
As a result of the sanctions, Iran’s daily oil exports were cut in half, from one-and-a-half million barrels of oil per day last October, to 750,000 barrels per day this April.
The cause of the oil leak on the captured Iranian tanker is unknown, and may be the result of a technical problem onboard the vessel or of sabotage.
Last month, another Iranian tanker off the coast of Syria near the port of Banias also suffered from “a problem” i24NEWS’ Defense Correspondent Matthias Inbar said.