Another foreign oil tanker was seized in the Persian Gulf, Iran’s state media said Sunday – the third such ship to be detained by Tehran amid high tensions between Iran and the U.S. after Washington renewed sanctions on Iran’s oil exports. 

Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) announced it detained the ship’s foreign crew for smuggling 700,000 liters – about 185,000 gallons – of fuel from Iran, according to the semi-official Fars news agency, which cited state television. 

Seven sailors were detained. 

No details about who owns the ship or the crew’s nationalities were given. The ship was reportedly seized near Farsi Island, a small, barren enclave in the Persian Gulf. 

It is the second ship in less than a month seized by Iran for allegedly smuggling oil.

Iran has also detained a British-flagged oil tanker, the “Stena Impero,” after it allegedly collided with an Iranian fishing boat and then failed to stop.   

The Trump administration renewed its sanctions on Iran’s lucrative oil industry after pulling out a year ago from the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. 

An IRGC statement said the newly seized vessel has been taken to Bushehr Port and its cargo turned over to the National Iranian Oil Product Distribution Company in Bushehr Province, according to Fars and the Mehr news agency. 

The Trump administration said Wednesday that it will sanction Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, a move likely to ratchet up tensions and narrow the window for dialogue with the Islamic Republic. That decision came after weeks of heated rhetoric and confrontation between the U.S. and Iran as the Trump administration tries to squeeze the regime economically and isolate it diplomatically. That effort has steadily intensified since Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement.

A diplomatic break has now become increasingly fraught.

Adding to the tensions: 

• Trump said the U.S. shot down an Iranian drone earlier this month because it was threatening an American ship in the region;
• Tehran shot down a U.S. surveillance drone last month;
• The U.S. has accused Iran of sabotaging oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.

Amid the crisis, Washington has boosted its military deployments in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil tankers. It is trying to establish an international maritime force to patrol the region. Britain is trying to create a separate European maritime security force. It remains unclear whether NATO will take part.

Contributing: Deirdre Shesgreen